Too Late for Sorry
by Tress Blues
Summary: During NM. Victoria bit Bella on the beach and 90 years later, Bella and her new coven are back in Forks. But what happens when our favourite vampire family comes back too? Sparks will fly and tension grows to new heights as danger looms...ON HIATUS
1. Changing

**Hello...yes I know I havent finished my MR story but I had the idea for this one and I just couldn't resist.**

**I've had it stored away for a while now and I am suffering from Writers Block on my other story. I can see where I want it to go but I just cant make it move forward. Oh well...I'll just have to try harder.**

**Hope you like this one, I got Breaking Dawn on August 4th...Oh My God. It is so goooood.**

**xoxo**

**Tress**

* * *

Chapter 1. Changing.

**Bella's POV**

90 years. As long as it sounds in human years, its not that long to a vampire. But to me, it might've been an eternity. Because it's been 90 years since I last spoke to Edward. 90 years since I spoke to Jacob. My name is Bella Swan and I'm a vampire. I know what you're thinking, hold on when the hell did this happen? Wasn't Bella supposed to stay human? Well Victoria had other plans. The afternoon I decided to try cliff diving, Jacob didn't get there in time and Victoria found me.

I was drowning, seeing shapes and hearing sounds that made no sense. The candle on the dark water was coming closer and closer to me but I didn't have the strength to move away. Then I was on the beach gasping for air, coughing up water. I took a few breaths, savouring the air and snapped my eyes open. Victoria, worse than my nightmares, towered above me. She was smiling and wringing her fierce orange hair out. I swallowed and tried to scramble away but I was too weak from the dive. She chuckled.

"Dearest Bella, it's too late for that. Sending Laurent to kill you was a mistake on my part, I'll admit. But where's Edward, hmm? I want him to watch as I destroy his little mate." She said, her voice sounding almost like Alice in that musical way. But it was laced in venom and hatred, rather than Alice's carefree and loving tone.

I swallowed again. "He's not here." I managed to choke out. "He-he left me."

She arched one eyebrow and then seemed to deliberate over my words. Then she straightened towards me with more malice than before. "He wanted you to have normal life didn't he?" she asked, softly. I nodded, still paralysed from the water. "Well that's too bad Isabella. Because you're not going to get one." She said, advancing on me.

"What do you mean?" I whispered. Victoria smiled again, almost cat-like on her pale skin.

"Silly girl. I don't think killing you would be enough. Turning you would be much more…_painful_ for dear Edward." She remarked and the last thing I saw before I blacked out was her musical laugh and twin pains in my neck.

When I regained some feeling, it was the never ending searing, fire-like pain rushing through my veins and Victoria's cold touch on my cheek, her laugh playing about my ears. I squirmed in pain as I remembered the last time I'd been in this type of pain. James and Edward. Edward who loved me. It coughed up memories of all the times he'd said he loved me and the times I'd spent with him and his family. Until I remembered the Edward who left me. Then Jacob who saved me. Jacob my personal sun. I wondered if I'd ever see him again. The hole in my chest started to feel like an anvil and throbbed with pain as well.

It went on like that for three days. Some time during then, I was dimly aware of Victoria's screams and then a thick, musky, acid-like, burn-your-nose smell and something burning against my hand. I thought of Jacob and the rest of the Quileute pack, how warm they used to be. "Bella…" someone whispered. I hoped it was Jake. But then again I didn't want him to see me like this. The conflict put more pressure on my mind and I felt another, fresh rush of pain. I screamed out but my voice had deserted me within the first day of the pain. I just mouthed with dry lips, hoping somebody would put me out of my pain soon.

I don't remember falling asleep but when I woke up, the pain was gone. I had a thick dryness in the back of my throat and my breathing was ragged and shallow. I looked around the room that had served as my personal hell for the last three days. It was a small cabin-like area, with built up wooden walls and floors. I was in a small mattress in the back corner, the pillows and sheets were limp with dirt. Rugs and couches were littered around the place, as was the foul, musky acid like smell I'd sensed during my pain.

Suddenly the door burst open and Jacob stood there, growling in wolf form. I jerked back into a crouch on my bed, growling back. I stopped and shook my head. This was Jacob. Why did I feel the need to hurt him? He looked just as surprised as I was and ran out then back again, this time in human form. "Bella?" he murmured and I nodded. Jacob's eyes were wide as he looked me over.

"Jake, stop looking at me like I'm a piece of artwork and tell me what the hell is going on!" I snapped, my voice sounding different. It was lighter, smoother than before, not raspy or hoarse. He looked me over once more and then stood at the doorway. Light flooded in as did the musky scent. I pressed away from it, holding my breath. Jake seemed to be having the same difficulty.

"Bella, I didn't get here in time. I'm sorry. The red-headed leech was watching you and we took her down. But it was too late for you. We think she may have turned you into a-"

"Vampire." I ended in a whisper. It made sense, I realized. The pain, Victoria's screams, that awful smell. "Did you know you reek?" I asked, still holding my breath. Instinctively I let it go but I just sucked up another one the stench was so bad. I tried not to breathe and it seemed like some part of the world went dimmer, harder to see.

Jacob chuckled, grimly. "Yeah? You don't smell too good either. Look Bells, we don't want to have to kill you. We're suggesting that you leave Forks for the while, come back when you don't need human blood." He stated and outside I saw a flash of grey and brown as the rest of the pack bounded up. I nodded.

"But what about Charlie?" I asked, in the same smooth tone. It shocked me more than I liked. "I can't leave him alone." But Jacob shook his head.

"Bella you'll have to. Newborns are difficult to control and what would he say when he saw you? You have red eyes Bella!" he said and jerked a thumb at a mirror on the left side of the room. I got up slowly and crept towards it. The alloy was dim and chipped but I got a good look at my vampiric self for the first time.

My dark reddish brown hair trailed down my back with an unusual sheen while my skin, pale as it was before, was even lighter now, almost translucent. I still had dry pink lips, I noticed, that were pale with thirst. I marked it as a good sign, I hadn't hurt anybody yet. But my dark brown eyes, the eyes I had been so comfortable, familiar with my whole life were deep crimson. The lashes were longer and darker but the irises were almost glowing red.

"Besides," I heard Jacob mutter, "He already thinks your dead." At this, I whipped around and stalked towards Jake. The smell was so bad I had to stop breathing but I glared at him.

"My father thinks I'm what?" I yelled and he winced but I didn't care.

He had better have a good reason for this.


	2. Goodbye

**Hey...this is my next post.**

**Hope you enjoy, I like this one best I reckon.**

**xoxo**

**Tress**

* * *

**Chapter 2. Goodbye**.

"He thinks you died in a motorcycle accident. It was three days Bella. He's beside himself and how do you think his supposedly dead daughter showing up would make him feel? Everyone would think he's nuts if he even lived through your visit." He protested. I stumbled back.

"I could never kill Charlie. Never. And I think I've earned the right to at least say goodbye to him!" I said, softly. Jacob lifted his chin and towered over me but I was already past him and out the door. I noticed I was still in my jeans and shirt from the jump and they smelled like salt water but I didn't care. I ran as fast as I could into the woods, dodging past the other werewolves outside. Once in the woods I raced. Who? I didn't know. Where? I didn't care. Why? Because my parents thought, I was dead. It was dark outside, moonlight lit up the forest, pooling in between the trees. I could tell it wasn't long until dawn.

I heard the howls of the other wolves but still I ran onwards, the trees became a blur of green and the howls died away. Finally, I came to a clearing overlooking the whole of Forks. The smells hit me first. Like a waterfall or a stampede, they overpowered my senses. Humans. Dozens and dozens of them, hundreds even all living down in the city. But strangely enough, as the dryness in my throat started to kick in again I just resisted and concentrated what I wanted. I didn't want to drink human blood, I wanted to see my parents and tell them I love them again. The scents washed away, still there but I just rejected all of them. I wondered how that was possible, but shook my head. There was time for that later. I needed Charlie now.

I spotted his house on a hill a few miles away. The musky smell had started back up again as I began to run to it. Soon I was in my driveway. My beat up old truck stood silently in the garage, the lights were all off except for Charlie's room. I opened the door and Charlie's smell hit me. It was like smell you get before a thunderstorm, that crackling scent in the air but I resisted. I rejected the smell and it stayed there, I just didn't want it. I noticed he smelled of liquor too, as I went silently up the stairs, at normal speed to his room.

I knew Jake would be there soon. I saw Charlie, splayed out on his bed with a whiskey bottle in one hand, snoring. I smiled grimly as I shook him. "Charlie? Dad?" I whispered in his ear and he jolted awake, groggily.

He caught sight of me and his eyes widened as tears began pouring out. He scrambled to hug me and I hugged him gently back. "Bella, Bella, Bella you're alive! I knew you couldn't be dead, you just couldn't have been." He mumbled and I took another breath, still resisting his blood.

"Dad, I'm not alive. I've come to say goodbye." I murmured and he looked up at me shocked, his grip on my shoulders tightening. He shook his head violently and the whiskey bottle crashed to the floor.

"No, No! Bella I'm-I'm ordering you to stay. Please don't leave again. Please." He sobbed, still clutching me. He hadn't noticed that I was different yet. I decided it would be better if I made him think I was dead, not eternally damned. Much easier to explain.

"Dad. I love you and Mom so much but I really am dead. I'm so sorry. I just needed to tell you that before I go. I love you, I love Mom, I'm so glad I came to Forks, I'm glad I had you as a dad, I'm glad that I had such a great time before I died. But it wasn't your fault. Okay? It was mine. Clutzy Bella finally broke herself beyond repair. I don't want you to drink anymore. I want you to know that you are not to blame, no matter what Mom says or anyone else. It's not Jake's fault, or Edward's fault either so don't pin it on them. I just want you to be happy okay?" I said expecting tears to come. They didn't, nothing but dry sobs.

Charlie however, was crying his eyes out and I hugged him again. We stayed like that for sometime until he finally went back to sleep. I pulled the covers up around him just as a huge brown hand grabbed my wrist. I whipped around to glare at Jacob. "He's alive. I didn't kill him." I hissed and stalked out of the room. Jacob followed me. "I'm going away for a while." I muttered on the way down the steps and out the door.

"Where?" he asked, grimly. I shrugged.

"Away. Somewhere cold, where I'm not going to stand out. Maybe I'll find someone else there." I said, the first few rays of the sun spilling onto the front porch. It hit my hand, which lit up as I'd seen Edward's do. Jacob had obviously never seen it before. He looked down on it with wide eyes as I wiggled my fingers in the sun. A cloud passed over and the glowing stopped. Jacob looked at me with sad, stubborn, miserable eyes. He held out a black satchel packed to the brim.

"I packed some stuff for you. Be safe okay Bella?" he said as I took the bag.

"Aren't I always?" I teased and he tried to force a smile. I patted his big brown hand once again finding it unnaturally warm. I realized I was subconsciously holding my breath against the smell. "Seeya Jake." He nodded as I started towards the woods.

"Yeah, Seeya Bella." He yelled after me. I almost didn't hear him as I began running. I didn't know where I was going but hopefully, it was somewhere with a lot of animals.


	3. Saviour

**I needed this one to work for two reasons...**

**1) i needed to explain how Bella could just reject all the human blood in the second chapter and**

**2) she needs some new family members.**

**xoxo**

**Tress**

* * *

Chapter 3. Saviour

I'm in London now with my coven. See, after I said goodbye to Jacob, I went to Phoenix and said a final farewell to my mother. She took it a lot better than Charlie did and after that, I went to Canada for a short time. That's where I met Andrew and Vee.

It was thirty years later, in Canada. I was thirstier than usual; it was getting harder and harder to reject the smell of human blood. I'd worked out that I had a gift. The power of rejection. I had a natural aversion to anything I concentrated on, even other vampiric powers. I was in the frosty pine forest of Canada, feeding off a reindeer when I heard a screams coming from across a wide-open lake. I ran through the pines to see an enormous bear trying to take down a young couple. The was a boy, no older than 19 who was trying to lure the bear away but it was focused on the girl, 18 at the latest who was scrambling up a pile of driftwood on the bank. The couple smelled human but they were both bleeding profusely.

The bear swiped at they boy and he was knocked against a nearby tree, going limp. The girl screamed again and I jumped into the water. I have a strange loathing of bears, I don't know where it comes from but I just really don't like them. They're big, strong and impulsive. I swam over to the other side of the lake but by then I was too late. The boy had lost too much blood to be healed humanly and the girl was uselessly trying to throw driftwood at the big black bear. But she was bleeding too, a lot of blood spreading all over the white gritty sand of the beach. The girl finally went limp on the pile, accepting her fate. I jumped onto the bear and sunk my teeth into its arm. It cried out in pain and then rage as it flailed its arm about. I held fast to the ground and sucked it dry. Another thing about bears: they have strong tasting blood, like strong vodka almost. Soon it went still on the ground.

The girl was looking at me in timid fear but I wiped away the blood from my mouth and approached her anyway. She shuffled back a little and I held up my hands in a non-threatening gesture. "What's your name?" I asked, softly. I took in her appearance. She had light blonde hair and dark green eyes that were dull with shock.

"Vee Mathews. What are you? The- the bear just came out of nowhere and attacked us." Her eyes flared with recognition and she glanced at the boy behind me. "Andrew! Please you have to help him." She begged meekly and I looked over my shoulder at Andrew. His heartbeat was getting slower as we spoke, the only way I could save him would be to turn him. But even then I didn't know if I was strong enough to do it. He had light, almost blonde brown messy hair and tanned skin.

"My name is Bella Swan. I don't think I can save Andrew…" I answered. Or yourself. I added silently, as I took in how much blood was on the driftwood. The bear had swiped at her stomach and it was now bleeding a lot. I was concentrating extremely hard on rejecting the blood.

"Please? I need him. He's my fiancé. He proposed before the bear attacked see?" she said, choking on her words a little. Vee smiled weakly at the moments before. She was growing colder by the second as she held her hand out. A small glittering diamond ring was on her left hand. I took a deep breath.

Decision time. "Vee? Do you know what I am?" I asked and she shook her head. Another breath, I rejected all of the blood. Harder than it looked when it was so close. "I am a vampire. The only way I can possibly save Andrew is to turn him into vampire too. He's not exactly conscious right now but I need a decision." I explained. She crinkled her forehead and looked lovingly at Andrew. The next words were faint.

"Do it. To both of us." She murmured. I raced over to Andrew who was almost dead, and placed him next to Vee. The next few moments were blurry for me but I remember biting them both on the wrist and then carrying them up to my cabin. It was similar to the one Victoria changed me in, I thought ironically. There were two couches and I set them both up on each one. They were already screaming in pain.

My first thought was: what have I done? But then Vee looked up to me, tearfully and nodded, grasping Andrew's hand. I knew they really loved each other. She was doing this to herself so she could be with him. Like what I would've done to be with Edward. The thought stirred a horrible pain in my chest but a squashed it back down and took in the couple's appearances.

I noticed they both had each other's names tattooed on their wrists. I reached out and held their hands. I went through the hell with them for three days, until the finally woke up.

Vee was gorgeous. Her blonde hair was now gleaming and golden coloured while her eyes were bright red. Andrew's were red as well, but his skin was paler and he looked up confused at first. Vee jumped onto him and started kissing and hugging him.

Andrew asked Vee where they were and what happened and while Vee gave a terribly accurate blow-by-blow account, I left them alone. They needed a private moment I decided. It was about fifteen minutes later when I heard Vee calling my name. I introduced myself to Andrew and he grinned back. He reminded me a little of Emmett in some ways. That stung a little in my chest.

"Vee, Andrew, I need to ask something of you." I said, softly. They both look grim. I laughed. "It's nothing terrible. I just need you to promise that you won't hunt humans. Animals are a lot easier and less conspicuous to feed on. I'm sure you must be really thirsty huh?" they both nodded, eyes darkening for a moment.

After that, I told them all I knew and we became a coven. Vee was smart and quiet, sort of like Angela. Andrew was exactly like Emmett except for his size. He wasn't far off, but Andrew lacked the enormous mass Emmett had. They were both more like siblings to me than friends. I told them about Forks, Charlie, and the Quileute Pack. Last of all I told them about the Cullens.

It took nine years for them to overcome their blood lusts but when they were done, they were perfectly at ease. The first thing they did was get married on the beach were Andrew proposed. I thought it was a little gruesome having such a wonderful ceremony on the place where they were eternally damned but they apparently thought otherwise.


	4. Chen

**Hey...**

**I decided that I wanted Chen to make an appearance in this story. He's been wired away in my computer for ages, I havent used him in anything. He doesnt really serve much of a purpose. I dont think...**

**xoxo**

**Tress.**

**Ps. You'll have to wait for the nxt update: nxt week at the latest, promise.**Chapter 4. Chen.

* * *

Together we travelled around Asia and some of the southern hemisphere continents, like Australia and New Zealand and I was somewhat thankful for their company. I wasn't alone anymore, I had other somewhat human companions. The next of our coven was Chen. He was eighteen, like me, and was staying in China when we found him…

"Andrew, I swear if you don't get out of my way this instant-" Vee started but Andrew cut her off with a kiss. I smiled at them both. We were all taking a run around the mountains, looking for wildlife, not exactly hunting just getting a feel for the environment. I knew that as soon as they started kissing, Vee's anger dissipated in seconds. Call it Andrew's little power…except it was exclusively over Vee. "Andrew…that's…not…fair…" she murmured and I sprinted away to give them some privacy. Sometimes it was too much to watch them together. Don't get me wrong, I loved them both a lot but it was like dejavu of…him. I tried not to think about it too much. No point in making the gaping hole in my chest larger. I was racing up the mountain, barely feeling the cool air against my skin.

There was a strange scent in the air. Like the ocean, faintly winding its way over the paths. I liked it. It wasn't like any other I'd ever come across. Something about it was familiar, vampiric almost, but I'd never smelt something so brittle and weak before. Must be an animal. I thought as I followed the scent further into the trees. It lead me deeper and deeper into the shrub until I came across a small cave entrance.

The smell was making my curiosity flare as I went inside. The first thing that hit me was sadness. It hung in the air like an airtight seal, making it harder to breathe. Something was miserable here. I walked, at a human pace to the back. Curled up in one of the darkest corners was a shaking figure. All thoughts that it was an animal disappeared. This was no creature. It was a person. "Hello?" I murmured and the figure jumped back against the cave wall in a blur. Suddenly I wondered why I didn't have to reject this person's blood. Usually I would be concentrating very hard in such a confined area but at the moment, it was as if he didn't have any blood to speak of. As if, he was a vampire. A low hiss echoed around the cave.

"Get out while you still can." A horribly raspy voice said. I felt my non-beating heart swell in my chest. Agony was ripping from this poor man. I didn't move though. "Get out! I'm a monster! LEAVE!" he screamed, gripping the wall, almost as if he was trying to hold himself back.

"I'm not going to leave. Who are you? Do you have a coven?" I asked quietly, slowly moving forward. He froze and his hand ripped a rock from the wall in restraint. A tiny shard of light pierced the darkness and I saw that it was a boy, about my age with strong Chinese features and glowing skin. He was, like all vampires, incredibly handsome. The skin lit up the cave further and the boy hissed again, shying away from the brilliance.

"Who am I? I am a monster." He said, adding the last part to himself. He slid down the wall, landing with his head on his knees; dry sobs rippling threw his body, which was covered in dirty ragged clothes. I crouched closer to him, hopeful that he wasn't going to attack.

"Don't say that. You're like me. What's your name?" I asked, softly. He looked up and I saw that his eyes were black with thirst but cloudy somehow. Like he hadn't fed in an incredibly long time. Longer than I'd seen anyone go for. He seemed to take comfort with my own slightly darkened eyes and relaxed a bit.

"Chen. They called me Chen." He murmured. I nodded and smiled a bit.

"My name's Bella. Who bit you Chen? Why are you here?" I asked, hesitantly. Chen stiffened a little.

"A man named Jose came to my village. A true monster. We didn't know what he was until we let him in. The blood-drinker. The soul-stealer. He took many young women and drank their blood. One day he took my sister Lim. She was only 14. I went after him, trying to get her back but he'd already killed her. He told me that I looked strong enough to be part of his coven. I went through three days of horrible pain and when I woke up, I looked like the monster himself. Jose told me that I was to drink blood like him but it was too much. I ripped him to shreds and burned the room he kept me in to the ground. I tried to go back to my village but they cast me out. I was so tempted by them, to…to-" Chen shook his head violently in contempt.

I patted his arm softly. He smiled weakly and continued. "They cast me out and I found this place. I just wanted to die, to end my horrible existence but one woman wouldn't let me. She was a good friend to me in my village. She didn't know what I was. A few months ago, she followed me to this place and when she found me I-I killed her." he whispered. Despite myself, I gasped. Months and he hadn't fed. Starved himself so badly, so that he wouldn't be a monster. Chen must've thought I meant it differently and scrambled away, turning to the wall again. "I am a monster. Even among my own kind, I am a terrible creature." He said, disgusted at himself. I put my hand on his back again.

"Chen, you starved yourself too well. I understand you didn't want this but you cannot blame yourself. The only thing you're guilty of is being reckless. You should've fed immediately. You don't always feel like that if you feed often. My coven doesn't drink human blood, we drink animal blood. We try to be humane." I told him. He looked warily up at me.

"Animals?"

"That's right. We live among humans. We train ourselves not to kill innocent people. Would you like to try?" I asked. He seemed cautious of me so I stood and ushered to the cave entrance. Chen nodded and followed slowly. I wondered how long it had been since he'd seen the sun. We'd chosen a very remote place to hunt so no one would see our glowing skin so we should be fine, I thought.

I took in another deep ocean filled breath of air. Chen smiled. It was slightly crooked and sent a tiny ripple of pain through my chest. "Chen, smell down by the stream? Those deer-smelling animals?" I didn't know what they were called in China but they smelled exactly like elk. Chen closed his eyes and nodded. "GO down their and feed yourself. I'll be right behind you in case you need help." I said and took off after him. For someone who had starved themselves for about six months, he was surprisingly fast.

By the time I got there, a few seconds after him, he was done with his first deer. Chen looked solemn. "Thankyou Bella. This might be the first time I've felt hope in a long time." He said, gazing to the west where Andrew and Vee where playing around each other a few miles away. He tensed a little.

"Chen, they're fine. They're part of my coven. Andrew? Vee? Come over here and meet Chen! He might be staying for a while." I said and they were by my side in a second. Chen looked puzzled.

"You would permit me to stay with you?" he asked. I nodded.

"If you want to."

Chen had been with us every since.

**Review if you like it.**

**If you dont...review anyway.**

**Click the button...you know you want to.**

** That one...right there. The purple one. Just a click away...**

**\/**


	5. The Twins

Chapter 5

**Chapter 5. Twins**

Max and Jenna were the last ones to join us. We met them Sydney, Australia, while they were trashing a classroom…

"Chen for the last time NO!" Vee yelled. Chen looked pleadingly at her.

"Please Vee? Just for a little while? An hour? Please?" he whined after her. He'd been at her for hours. It was incredibly funny.

"Chen, you are not touching my car! End of story!" she said and went upstairs. Chen slumped down on the couch. I laughed at him and earned myself a murderous glare.

"Bella, couldn't you just make her give it to me? You are the head of the coven!" Chen asked. He'd been dying to get a go in Vee's new sports car but she'd put it in the off limits category. No one but her was allowed to touch the thing.

I rolled my eyes. Everyone liked to pretend that I was the head of the coven. So when issues like this came up, I had to play peace keeper. "Chen, get over it. She's not giving it up and I can't make her." I said and I heard a loud 'ha' from upstairs. Great, Vee was listening. "However, it might be nice for her to show it off to you for a few hours." I finished. Vee couldn't resist showing off her cars. It was her hobby.

She made a loud sigh and appeared downstairs again. "Okay fine. I drive then you shut up about the freaking car! Kapeesh?" she struck a deal with Chen. He nodded eagerly. Andrew wound an arm around her waist and kissed her ear.

"I'll come to so that when Chen doesn't shut up I'll stop my wife from murdering him." He chuckled and I sighed. That meant I'd have to come or stay at home alone.

"Guess I'll come too. Only two hours though. Cars like that are bound to attract attention at this hour." I said, relieved Vee hadn't ripped my head off for suggesting it. We raced out to the new Hamann Ferrari, Vee's pride and joy. It really was a nice car. It glowed silver in the moonlight and couldn't have been more conspicuous in the suburban streets of Sydney if it had a big red arrow that said, Vampires Here!

Vee revved the engine and I swore Chen was about to swoon over it. Andrew and I were barely suppressing our laughter in the back. We drove around the neighbourhood stopping casually at the edge of some of the bushland. Chen said he wanted to taste some kangaroo before we left. Eventually we came to a high school where we would be going for school. Not that we needed it.

Vee was about to leave when a flicker of light caught my eye. I looked hard at the window of light and nearly gasped when I saw a figure in the window. With glowing red eyes. Whoever it was looked pretty mad. They were throwing tables and chairs around the classroom, ripping the black boards and wallpaper off. Talk about keeping under the radar. "Vee, Andrew come with me. Chen, come in as backup okay? Better if they don't know how many we have if their hostile." I ordered and we ran towards the building.

The door was slightly open and we filed inside, me in lead, Vee and Andrew flanking me. It turned out to be two vampires; obviously newborns, a boy and a girl. They looked slightly younger than us, maybe sixteen or seventeen. At the very least fifteen, I decided. The girl looked similar to Vee with her long blonde hair but it was matted and tangled around her pale face. She was snarling and snapping furniture with her bare hands. The boy was chucking a huge fit. He had short spiky blonde hair as well and looked exactly like the girl. I figured they were twins. He was ripping the walls apart, growling and screaming. They both froze as we entered. I put up my hands in a friendly gesture and moved closer to them.

"Who the hell are you?" the boy snarled and crouched lower next to the girl, still gripping a brick from one of the walls.

"Friends. My name's Bella, this is Vee and Andrew. Who are you?" I said, softly straightening into a relaxed position. Andrew was anything but relaxed. He was wound tighter than a rubber band.

The girl sniffed us. "Friends? Ha! You're like us! Like her! LIKE THAT MURDERING BITCH!" she screamed. I froze again.

"Yes, we're like you. But we don't want to hurt you. We just want to stop you from hurting other people. What's your name?" Vee asked, stepping forward. The girl leaned away from us, surveying our stance and position.

"My name is Jenna. This is Max. He's my brother. How do we know you don't want to hurt us?" she said, suspiciously. I moved up next to Vee, Andrew hung back.

"You don't. How did you get to be like this?" I asked, Max answered this time.

He laughed coldly. "She did this to us. Miss _Penrose_," he spat. "A worthless coward posing as a teacher! Told us afterwards, she 'couldn't resist and was dreadfully sorry'. But we showed her. Last week! Didn't we Jen? We destroyed her! We killed her after she killed us!" Max yelled.

Jenna looked smug next to her brother. "We ripped her limb from limb! We stabbed her in the heart with a stake!" she added. I knew they didn't understand how to kill a vampire. The knowledge wasn't exactly common. I decided to skip that detail and move on.

"Well what will you do now?" Andrew asked. The pair stopped laughing.

"We don't know. This is where she worked. This is where we used to be happy. She shouldn't have been allowed to be here. So we're going to destroy it too. So no one like her can ever come here again." Max murmured. They were too young and impulsive to make any sense of their plan.

"Have you fed yet? Do you know what you are?" Andrew pressed on. His curiosity wasn't satisfied it seemed. I wondered if they might join our coven too. Being so young, someone would have to teach them, if not to hunt animals than at least how to remain inconspicuous.

Jenna looked at Max, puzzled. "Miss Penrose said we were vampires. But we don't want to kill people! We tried but we couldn't help it! WE DIDN'T WANT TO! IT ISN'T FAIR!" she screamed again, dry sobbing into her brother's arms. He cradled her shaking frame.

"We took the old couple down the street. That's all. We didn't want to but they smelled so good. It isn't fair. They shouldn't be allowed to taste that nice. We didn't want to. Honest." Max said, gravely. Vee and Andrew moved closer to the pair, closer until they were crouched beside them. Slowly they hugged the two children.

It was heart-wrenching sight. "Chen, it's safe." I whispered and Chen slid through the door. "I was thinking of letting them join us. What do you think?" I asked softly. The others weren't paying attention.

Chen nodded. "I think they need us. They seem so lost Bella." He murmured back.

I took a breath. "Then we'll help find them." I said with a note of finality in my voice.


	6. Return

Chapter 6

**Chapter 6. Return**

Our coven lived in Australia for a while before we decided to travel for a bit. In the time we'd been together, Vee and Andrew had gone to college twice and I'd gone four times. Chen didn't like school however. He preferred hands on job experience. We all, excluding Jenna and Max, had degrees in something. Mine were mainly in medicine and literature, while both Andrew and Vee had degrees in law and psychology. But we were bored so we all took a little trip abroad to London. We've been living here for about eighteen years now.

But part of me still wants to go back to Forks…I never really knew why.

**In London….**

"Bella?" Vee asked, knocking on my door. I opened it and was back on the bed before she came in.

"Yeah Vee?" I responded, packing my suitcase. She sighed and winced. It was an interesting combination.

"You know we don't have to go back. It's been a while but really if it's too much we can go somewhere else." She said, watching as I folded my clothes. I stopped and turned around to face her. She was wearing a navy blue dress under a white trench coat, she looked so at home with the London backdrop behind her.

"Vee, I'm really fine. It'll be good to go back and there aren't many other places we can go and not be recognised. It was a good idea." I said, smiling. We were moving again, this time back to my old home in Forks. Charlie had passed away some years before but we didn't want to go back in case someone recognised us. Ninety years later, however we were quite sure no one from my generation would be alive and certainly not living in Forks.

Vee gave me a scrutinizing look and then helped me zip up the case and walked with me down the steps of our apartment. Jenna and Max were silently playing a Nintendo game. Chen and Andrew were talking animatedly about some new TV show and who was going to win. "I'm telling you Andrew, Bobby could beat Naomi any day! Remember when it was him against the snakes?" Chen said, throwing his hands up in frustration. Andrew shook his head.

"You didn't see Naomi on the acrobatic platform! Chen, anyone who can do a double twist and land on her hands can beat the lousy little lump of flesh you call Bobby!" he argued back. I laughed and they both rolled their eyes and went back to arguing. I ushered them both out, following after Vee.

"I swear, they're going to drive me nuts! There's always something to argue about." Vee whispered as we walked out of our flat for the last time.

"You think it's bad now, but wait til they get to Forks. It's all drizzling rain and trees. Nothing to debate about, they'll have to find new ways to entertain themselves." I whispered to Vee who grinned and laughed. We all piled into the taxi and listened as Max and Jenna joined the argument. Vee and I were about to crack when the car pulled over and we were at the airport.

We filed in and ignored the stares we were getting from the other flyers. Jenna and Max were the toughest to control. They were twins and were extremely protective of one another. Max was about to rip a young boy's head off when they whistled at Jenna until I grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him through the security onto the plane. Once we were on, he calmed down a bit although he wouldn't let Jenna out of his sight for the entire flight.

I liked Max as a little brother or a son but he was so protective of Jenna it drove her insane. When they were human, they told us, they could sense where each other was but when they were turned apparently, it stretched to tracking anyone.

Jenna got up to go to the bathroom mid-flight and Max started to move as well until I pushed him back down in his seat. "Jenna's a not a baby. Just give her some space, okay Max?" I whispered, so fast human's probably couldn't see my lips moving let alone hear what was being said. Max growled lightly but sat quietly after that.

When we finally touched down in Forks, dejavu hit me like a bullet train. We all walked down the terminal Max in front with Jenna then Vee and I, Andrew and Chen taking up the rear. I swallowed as we walked out the same doors, onto the same street where not a lot had changed. Forks was strange like that. It was constant.

Vee held my hand the entire time, somehow sensing that I was in pain. We caught another taxi, by this time it was pretty late and the driver was almost falling asleep at the wheel. He reeked of liquor and cigarettes. Jenna and Max, who had an intense hatred of the smell, were ready to tear the cab apart because of it. Max held her hand the entire way, which calmed them down a little. We made it to the new house in one piece and after paying the driver, we looked around the new place. It was big, I'll give it that.

There were three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a kitchen that we would never use. The living room was already furnished with our stuff and the twins raced upstairs with Chen to see their rooms. Vee and Andrew went at a similar pace but I doubted it was to just look at their new room. I walked around for a bit, organising the study until it felt like home.

But as soon as the words entered my head, my heart throbbed for Charlie. It longed for the simple connection to my old house. Soon I couldn't resist it. It would hurt. It would be painful. I knew the aftermath would be agony but it would be worth it. I needed to visit my old house. The house that he'd once stepped foot inside.

Home.

* * *

**Guys I am so sorry i didnt post sooner. I actually have a good supply of chapters here but I'm thinking of restarting my entire account. You know, like deleting all stories and doing a remake. It might help with my MR story because I've been in a twilight mood lately but give me a review to give your thoughts. **

**PS. To my already loyal reviewers:**

**Most FAQ: When do the Cullens make an appearance? **

**Well pplz I have actually already written the Cullens long awaited return but i'm going to wait til tomorrow to post it.**

**Other Q's: **

**?Are Bella and Chen together?**

**HELL NO! Bella and Chen are more brotherly sisterly love. Nothing more. Chen is more of a loner type. You know the ones I'm talking about. He hangs around with Bella and her coven, he loves them all like family but being in the moutnains for all that time really screwed him up. ****He doesnt trust himself, even around his own kind so he pretty much goes off on his own for most of this story. I stuck him in here because Chen is just a really cool guy. I reckoned he deserved a starring role. **

**You know reading that question sent chills up my spine. Ew.**

**?On the topic of being Out of Character?**

**Yeah, sorry about that. I have a terrible terrible habit of cutting out the bits of characters that i deem unneccassary. Like Bella's neediness. I added a bit more confidence than she usually has I know. But understand: She's been living on her own for quite a while and then when she had another family, she had to change to suit that family. It's been difficult to stick to Bella's overall Twilight human character because she isnt human in this one. **

**And finally: **

**?How will Edward and Bella meet again? **

**Weeeeeeeeeell. Try to get this okay? I am a very stereotypical writer. I'm also very ironic. But its very hard to come up with a new way for Bella and Edward to meet when they've all been done already. It's annoying. **

**xoxo**

**T.r.e.s.s ****B.l.u.e.s**


	7. Home is where the heart is

Chapter 7

**Chapter 7. Unchanged.**

I slipped out of the house and ran through the trees, I'd run through 90 years earlier when I was saying goodbye to Charlie. I was astounded to find my truck, still as trusty as ever still in the garage and everything was like before. I opened the door and found everything covered in dust, a thin smell of musk and Charlie hung limply in the air.

I wondered how long it had been since someone had been here as I walked upstairs to my room. It hadn't been touched. The clothes were still in the wardrobe, the bed was crumpled and unmade. The room pulled on my cold dead heart. Edward was in here once. The memories of my human life were unbearable unclear until they were about him. Those memories were perfectly clear, sharp, beautiful. Of his cold, hard arms and his angelically smooth voice. When I remembered him, I wondered why he even bothered with me in the first place. But I didn't visit those memories. It was simply too painful. My room disturbed me though.

It was like Charlie hadn't moved a thing. Hadn't touched it or rearranged anything at all. But he'd cleaned it. The floor wasn't covered in a thick layer of dust and except for the few tiny cobwebs in the corners of the room, everything was immaculately tidy. I laughed a little. A vampire complaining about the presence cobwebs. I could see the irony.

It amazed me that Charlie hadn't thrown my stuff out. I checked his room next. It was tidy and covered in dust; most of his stuff was gone, probably to the people in his will. The lounge room, the kitchen, everything was dusty and unused. It was painful to see my home deteriorate to this state. In the upstairs bathroom, there was a note on the mirror. It wasn't Charlie's or anyone I remembered for that matter but I opened it anyway.

_Congratulations! You made it to stage three in the Swan Mystery Hunt._

_If you're reading this then it is September 25__th__ and the Hunt has begun. You have also broken into the haunted Swan House. _

_In this house, the young Miss Swan lived for two years until she disappeared. This bathroom was actually the one she used the night of her disappearance. Her father once said that in the room down the corridor, she appeared to him, as ghostly pale and beautiful as a nightmare. But she never appeared after that. At least not in this house. _

_Now follow the directions to the place she spent most of her time…the infamous White Mansion. _

My vision was tinting red. How **dare** they! Come into **my** home and create a **game** out of **my** life like it was a **fairytale**! I fumed but managed to stick the note back on the mirror. It would be suspicious if someone took the note before this stupid, infuriating "hunt" was on. Like it was a game! I needed to get out of here.

I darted back out into the night, racing back to my coven. Internally I knew why the letter was so upsetting. People cared enough about me in Forks for them to make a big enough deal about my disappearance. That was why everyone remembered me. Why this stupid game was occurring. Why? I wondered. Why did anyone care? The answer was simple. I got it immediately after I asked the question. Charlie. I knew he wouldn't have just let me say goodbye. If I could've cried I would have. Charlie did not let go of me. He suffered.

Forks may have been constant, but sometimes it hurts to see that something hasn't moved on. I was panting when I finally got back and not from the run. Vampires don't pant from physical exercise. But it was a human response, the closest I had. Panic and anger and annoyance and regret were sinking into my veins. Why didn't he just let go?

Vee and Andrew were waiting for me. Vee hugged me tightly and Andrew encased us both while I dry sobbed. Charlie had left everything exactly the way I'd left it. I'd hoped he'd lived a carefree, happy life but it was apparent he hadn't. He'd clung to my goodbye for hope that I would be back. The only thing I could hope for now was that he hadn't blamed himself.

When I was finished, Vee looked me in the eye and gave me another hug. "Bella, I know you miss him. I never knew him and I miss him. But I think he would've tried to move on after your goodbye. I think Charlie was somewhat happy." She whispered through my hair. I nodded miserably and detached myself from them both. Chen, Jenna and Max were at the staircase, smiling sadly.

"Sorry guys. I just had to see it for myself. He left everything exactly where I left it. He moved on but I don't think he let me do the same." I said. Jenna smiled at me.

"Look on the bright side Bella! We're going to school tomorrow! It'll be something to take your mind off it." She said, acting more like a sixteen year old rather than the 36 year old she really was. I smiled back and nodded.

"Have you unpacked?" I asked, hoping to take myself out of the spotlight. I felt self-conscious when everyone was paying attention to me. Same old human insecurity.

They all nodded and I thought about what to do next. I looked Max and Andrew in the eye. They were darker than usual, probably because they'd missed the last hunting trip we did. They were both busy doing 'guy stuff'. Also known as playing a 96 hour video game marathon non-stop. Chen had thought it was hilarious, he was laughing the entire time. Max and Andrew were both too focused on the dumb game to figure out he was laughing at them not with them.

"We should go hunting before school tomorrow. I don't want you guys ripping heads off teachers, the temptation at that school is hard to resist even for humans." I teased and everyone was out the door before I could finish.


	8. Hunting Party

Chapter 8

**Chapter 8. Hunting Party**

"Jennaaaaaaa! Come on that was mine!" Max whined as Jenna won the race to the deer. She grinned up at him, looking slightly ghoulish with her bloodstained shirt.

"Snooze, you loose, Max!" she said, finishing her meal. Max stamped the ground angrily and raced after another deer in the underbrush. I knew they'd like these woods. The twins liked big open spaces to hunt. London was difficult for them, as we had to travel far upstate to hunt.

As much as I loved London, the green of Forks was always a reminder of my human life. The trees, the rocks, the sky…it was all cluttered with bright jade green leaves and moss. My first human thoughts were how much I hated the colour but really, now it was comforting. Familiar. Things change so much when you're immortal that the tiniest things that don't change are priceless. Idly, I wondered how La Push had faired over the years but immediately I shut them down. Thoughts like that were like gasoline to an open flame. Very. Bad. News.

Vee and Andrew were further north where the bears were, they both held somewhat of a grudge towards the creatures. Chen was eastward still cautious about hunting whenever we were around. He didn't like hunting with an audience. I was racing Max to the other deer. I caught it a split second before him, nailing it to the ground. "Bellaaaaaaa! That one was completely mine!" he whined again and I smirked.

"Max, go get your own deer." I ordered and for the fourth time that night, he hunted down another creature. I finished my own meal and went in search of Jenna who was distracting Max. She danced around him, her silvery blonde hair billowing behind her, her eyes light with amusement and golden. Jemma reminded me of Rosalie sometimes but only physically. She had the same staggering beauty but Jemma didn't like it. She thought it was the worst part about being a vampire. Everyone stared. No matter how dull you tried to make yourself look, everyone's eyes followed you around the room. "Jenna, come on, let your poor brother eat!" I called and a chuckle was my only reply. Comforting.

The scent of the forest filled my nostrils, bringing up all the memories I'd spent here. Suddenly another scent flowed into the area. It was sweet and thin, dancing around the air. It wasn't animal or human. It wasn't even werewolf. It was vampiric. Slightly different though, one was like honey and another thicker like rising bread. Maybe five or six different scents mixed together: a hunting party. I hissed and sprinted after Jenna and Max who probably couldn't take on other vampires due to their size. I found them talking as Max fed off another animal, his eyes sparkling topaz. Jenna smiled too, before frowning at my expression. She sniffed the air and stiffened. Max did as well and immediately stood up.

Because of our vegetarian methods and the way we moved around a lot, many covens didn't particularly like us. They tended to prey on us singularly rather than in the whole group. But something about this group smelt friendly, almost familiar. "Let's go find your parents." I murmured and we all sprinted up north, following Vee and Andrew's scent.

We found them feeding on a grizzly bear, uncommon but not unheard of in these parts. Vee was lying on the ground near Andrew and smelling the air and ground, absently mashing a boulder to bits in her free hand. In all respects, it was a comical arrangement. "We smelt another group. Better to leave now and avoid confrontation." I suggested and the two nodded in agreement. Running for everyone was second nature. I understood what Edward meant by that now. It was like talking but with movement and speed, dancing almost but more practical. We ran through the trees, finally reaching our driveway. It was Cullen style, as I liked to call it, big and long with trees on either side. It made it seem like another trail through the woods. We found Chen on the couch, lazily scrolling through the channels. He gave me a look that said he knew why we'd come back.

Although I hadn't realized it, we had stayed up all night hunting and the clouds were much brighter than usual, the sun was up. "Andrew what's the time?" Jenna asked, stretching her arms. Andrew always had a watch handy. Jenna and Max called him Father Time.

"Almost seven. God you were right Bells. You really can't tell the time here without a watch." He remarked. I'd told them all before hand that it was always cloudy in Forks so you couldn't tell the time here using the sun. I smiled and stretched as well. If I could feel tired, I would be exhausted right then.

"Well you have an hour to do what you want. But we should probably get to school early so be ready at ten to eight okay?" I said and we all split off into general directions. Max and Jenna went outside to spar for a bit while Vee and Andrew went upstairs. God only knew what they were up to. Chen remained in front of the TV. Being from a relatively small village, he found the whole concept of TV amazing. Even after the sixty or so years he'd been with us, he still found it mind blowing.

As for me, I went to the piano in the living room. After thirty years of doing nothing at night, I decided to give myself a hobby. I learned to play the piano. We'd shipped it in the first class area so it arrived a few days before us. It was a big black grand piano, glossy and expensive looking but I really bought at a thrift store in Colorado.

I'd been trying to recreate Edward's lullaby for me but it was harder than it looked. I could only just remember the tune and the rest was history. I'd locked the memories away in the Edward file at the back of my head, along with the other memories that caused me pain.

But lately the pain had eased up and I was able to remember a few more notes in the tune. I played softly on the piano, trying to remember the last few bars. But they eluded me and before I knew it an hour had gone and it was time for school. Joy.


	9. Remembering

Chapter 9

**Chapter 9. Remembering**

**Edwards POV**

**Going to Forks…**

After I left Bella, I made sure that no one in my family would ever have contact with her again. I made Alice promise she wasn't going to keep tabs on her and everyone swore they'd do what I thought was best. It's been 90 years and I still haven't let her go though. I tried going back to the life I had without her, when she never existed. But to me, it wasn't a life at all. I tell myself everyday that I shouldn't have gone near her. I should've let her live her life without the knowledge of our existence.

There were days when I was so very tempted to go back and visit her. Kiss her, hold her in my arms one last time but I resisted. I missed her so much, I tried so very hard to forget about my beautiful, sweet Bella but she would not be forgotten.

We travelled different places for the past ninety years and my family got back to some kind of normality. But everyone was lagging, trying but failing in being themselves. Alice went shopping but she came back early and bought bare necessities. Emmett joked a lot but he was half hearted about it. Even Rosalie was lacking although she tried to hide it well. Jasper felt the worst about it. Always blaming himself about her eighteenth birthday, how he should've stayed away from her. 'We never would've left if I hadn't…' was his most common thought. I knew why though. Bella, unintentionally, had become part of them all and they couldn't feel right until she was with us. But I would not let her become a nightmare.

Carlisle decided it was time we went back to Forks. He said that we needed to remember the good times we had there so we could have more times in the future. It had been a long time since we went to Forks, but we were certain that Bella wouldn't be there. None of us accepted that she was probably dead; we all lived in our own fantasy that she was off somewhere sunnier, living happily.

It was torture to read my family's minds and know that I'd caused it. Esme's thoughts were heart breaking. She considered Bella a daughter to her, losing her brought up memories of when she was human and had lost her own child. The happiness of her daughter's birth, little Eliza. The panic of hearing the doctors taking her away. The torture of waiting and then the misery of their news. Little Eliza, she had thought, how could you have been taken so quickly? Esme had hung in there for a while. Trying to live on in a world that held no meaning but eventually she broke. Her happiness, it seemed, was somewhere else, taken by death. Esme wanted happiness so badly that she followed little Eliza. Over a cliff.

The memories played in her head, over and over, like a broken record. The most frequent of her thoughts were of her baby's big soft brown eyes. She saw a bit of Eliza in Bella it seemed and she was close to bitter about the fact that the solitude she had been given the first time would not work the second. But Esme could never be bitter. She often apologised to me, saying that it wasn't my fault even though I knew it was.

We touched down in Forks after a nine-hour flight; the thoughts of my family were of remembrance. Alice had seen a woman getting off the plane in a blue gown and remembered Bella at prom. Emmett saw someone stumble down the steps a little and was thinking about Bella's uncanny ability to fall over anything. Jasper was still feeling guilty and Rosalie was busy watching people stare at her, all the while thinking of Bella and her future. Whether she had children or not, a husband who loved her. I wondered the same thing. Bella in love with anyone but me was agony. It helped that she couldn't picture it either. Her thoughts were clouded the most. She did a good job of hiding her true feelings.

My parents were worried about me. Esme gave me a reassuring look as we walked out the doors and into classic Forks weather. Rain. Carlisle has bought back the old house we lived in last time and had it refurnished for our arrival so it felt strangely familiar when we drove back up the drive way and found all our cars, parked in the garage and the house repainted the exact same shade of white it had been during our last stay. Rose and Alice rushed inside to unpack their clothes, while Emmett dragged Jasper into the garage to check out the cars.

Last of all Esme and Carlisle did a tour of the house. Pointless, considering we lived here over ninety years ago but Esme wanted to remember some of the good times since we were last here. I somehow found myself in the living room alone, with a big grand piano. I played a few well-known pieces until my fingers started to play a lullaby. The lullaby I wrote for my beautiful, sweet angel. Bella's lullaby.

The house echoed back the notes and they hung in the air. It was selfish of me to play it, I knew perfectly well it would remind everyone of Bella but I couldn't help myself. I needed to connect with her again. When it was over, everyone's thoughts revolved around her once again.

_Edward? We're going hunting, see some of the changes in the forests. Do you want to come?_ Alice thought and I saw her bounding down the steps. Hunting always took my mind off things. I nodded and she smiled, unexpectedly. I hadn't seen Alice smile like that in a very long time.

The others were already outside, waiting for the verdict. Alice and I came out, everything as clear and crystal as it was during the daylight hours. We weren't far off them though, maybe four hours til our first day. Forks High School began today, of all places we had to go to the one landmark most painful to be around.

Rosalie and Emmett raced down the driveway and off into the forest, Alice and Jasper followed. I took an unnecessary breath and started after them. Forks' forests hadn't changed a whole lot since we were last there but there was a change in animal life. You could smell it in the air; the animals were all frenzied up and cautious. I wondered why as I spotted Alice and Rose off in the distance, racing each other.

Suddenly everyone froze on instinct. A sweet, flowery scent filtered from further east, so familiar it made everyone turn to me. My jaw clenched and I ran to the smell. I caught the barest flash of white skin before the smell, along with two other cinnamon like scents, disappeared into the north. I recognised it. The one that used to make my insides go haywire when she came near. It was Bella's.

Jasper and Rosalie caught up with me first. They took in the surroundings, not missing the deer smell in the immediate area. "Edward…" he started but I was in shock. There was no way it could be Bella. She was gone or dead or married or something. She wouldn't be living in Forks. Much less going in the woods at the age she must be.

"It can't have been her. She's gone. Bella must be at least 108 by now, why would she be in the woods?" Jasper said, trying to reason with me. I could feel calm radiating from him but it did little to my jangled nerves. Half of me was ecstatic that Bella might alive, that she hadn't died or married someone else, but I immediately felt guilty. That was why I'd left. So she could have a chance at a normal, happy human life.

I pitied Jasper. My emotions were a roller coaster right then. Rosalie turned to me her thoughts already bringing an unwanted theory into my mind. "She might've been a-"

"No. Bella is human. She stayed human." I whispered, not letting another theory of Bella's existence enter my head. Jasper nodded. He could tell that I needed her to be human. To know she had been happy. Even if it wasn't with me.

**Hey Guys, **

**There were some questions that you asked in your reviews…a few misconceptions that should be filled in. **

**First of all:**

**Wouldn't Alice of seen Bella been changed? Wouldn't see send Edward back to Bella to help? Even if she didn't look into Bella future if she's looking into her own future now or Edwards or anyone wouldn't she see them meeting again if that was them in the forest?**

**Ooooooohkay then… **

**Here is the deal: **

**When Edward left in NM, he didn't want Bella to have anything to do with his world again. So he asked Alice to do him the biggest favour he'd ever asked for. He asked her not to look for Bella. To keep any temptations from him so he wouldn't go back. It worked. But think about it. Even if Alice had blocked out all the nearby futures and possibilities, she'd still be able to see Bella as a vampire, with her in the long run. But Alice didn't think about that because she didn't count it as a possibility. Every time it came up (the vision of her and Bella together and friends); she just thought it was her memory of the first time she saw it. So she dismissed it. That's why Alice didn't know about her change. Contrary to popular belief, Alice's visions (in my story at least) can be interrupted with her thoughts, feelings and memories. **

**Answer your questions?**

**Also are you going to bring Jacob in?**

**XP. Hmmm. I haven't really thought about that yet. I was tossing it over in my head, of ideas involving him and at first I was all for it. But then I started thinking, wait a second, don't Bella and Edward have enough problems to work through without the werewolf? I might put a poll up to get your opinions though…maybe.**

**And last but not least….**

**WHERE THE HELL ARE THE CULLENS!!**

**Calm yourself young grasshoppers! They are here at last! **

**Also to all my wonderful reviews and reviewers, I love you guys soooo much right now! **

**A special note to CellaCullen : OMFG!**

**Thankyou! I hadn't even thought about that yet and as soon as I read your review, the rest of the story started writing itself in my head. Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou! Thankyou!**

**Xoxo**

**Tress Blues…**


	10. Show Time

**So sorry. I forgot I had this chapter on my computer! The next one is going to be a little difficult considering it's the first meeting and I really want it to match up with your expectations.**

**Xoxo**

**Tress Blues. **

**P.S **

**Read my Maximum Ride Story Left Behind, guess her name before the fifth chapter and you get a free virtual hug and cookie! **

**Chapter 10. Show time.**

**Edward's POV**

Alice and Emmett found us we ran back to the house. Everyone was tense and worried as Alice quietly told Carlisle and Esme what had happened. Esme immediately came after me but I had already slammed the door shut to my room and was silently fuming. Who was torturing us like this? Making me think Bella might be alive. I left so she could be normal! And now that defiant thought that had held me back from visiting her was being doubted and weakened by that scent. If she really was alive now, there was no chance she had been normal and no reason I couldn't have seen her. It had all been for nothing.

Mentally I saw her face, the last time I'd seen her. She looked so fragile and broken; it'd taken all my self control not to turn back. But I did it in the end. I left her. No matter how I tried to justify it that face haunted me forever. For the first time in years I was glad I couldn't sleep. Because all my dreams, all the rest would be corrupted with that pale heart broken face. It wasn't right to put her through it but I'd done so in her best interests.

But I pushed it all away. Every memory of her, I pushed back. It was emotionally painful to visit, to relive. I cursed my vampiric memory. I could remember every detail of her and yet I wished she would just disappear from my head. At least that's what by conscious self told me. Another part of me was grabbing at the remembrance. Dragging it back to punish me some more. _I'll just have a look at school today, see if there's anything there…_Alice's thoughts, faint as they were, drifted from downstairs. In a second, I was beside her.

"Alice. No." I said and she frowned, stubbornly.

"Edward, I just want to know if…something's going to be there. I promise nothing more than a few hours…" she trailed off but I shook my head.

"Alice, you promised me you wouldn't keep looking for her! You swore that you wouldn't!" I hissed. She squirmed, her brow crinkling. "Alice I can hear your thoughts. That promise was iron clad, you can't get through it." I told her. She huffed. She was trying to think of ways to do it accidentally but nothing would work. I'd already covered all the loopholes. "Alice…"

She groaned in frustration. "Fine! I won't look. We'll find out sooner or later. School's in fifteen minutes anyway!" she said, adding the last part smugly. I scowled at her and she danced back upstairs to change.

Fifteen minutes til I had to go back to high school. Fifteen minutes til I had to go back to the place I met **her**.

*

**Bella's POV**

I love my car. It's a sky blue convertible big enough to fit my entire family with the top up or down. Of course, in Forks, it was always up. "Bella? Are we going by Swan or Matthews this time?" Andrew asked as we all piled into the car. Normally we'd take Andrew's and mine cars but his engine had been busted up in the shipping. Andrew was completely furious of course. He accidentally ripped off the door and it was officially broken beyond repair.

I saw five pairs of topaz eyes sparkle in the rear view mirror. "Vee, can you and the twins go by Mathews and Andrew and I will go by Swan? I think that's how I arranged it with the school. Chen, of course you'll have to go on your own." I said. Vee, Jenna and Max could be siblings, they looked so similar. Jenna and Max had light blonde hair but it gave off the same sort of texture as Vee's anyway. Andrew and I both had darker hair so not many people doubted us as brother and sister. Chen, from his Asian heritage, always had to go on his own. He grinned at me.

"Sure I think I'm going by Chen Dracula this time." He said and everyone groaned. Chen had the worst humour when it cam to choosing last names. In England, he'd gone by Bond and before that he was Chen Winsinorionton. The third. Of course, **he** thought he was hilarious.

We were going under the impression that we were all living together, as both families were friends. Chen was adopted into the Mathews family but, to avoid confusion, he always kept another name. I'd told the school that our parents travelled a lot so they wouldn't be available for much of the parent interviews or meetings. She seemed to buy it; the signatures I gave on the forms were very convincing.

I put the car into gear and drove down the main road to Forks High School. "Jeez Bella, could you drive any slower?" Andrew teased and I rolled my eyes. Even as a vampire, the habits of a policemen's daughter were hard to break.

"Seriously, ice glaciers are going faster than we are!" Jenna complained and thumped against the back seat. I laughed.

"That may be but did ice glaciers have a father telling them to respect the speed limits every time they turned the keys?" Vee pointed out. Jenna huffed. I'd told Vee all about Charlie. Her own parents were divorced and she hardly ever saw her dad anymore. She loved Charlie from my stories even though she'd never met him.

"Okay guys, ground rules. No smelling, biting, upstaging or showing off, Andrew." I gave him a stern look. He shrugged, sheepishly. Andrew may have been married to sweet, quiet modest Vee but that didn't stop him from being a complete show off. The last high school we went to we had to leave because he'd run the huge cross country track in 30 seconds flat. Subtle huh? "And we have to be really careful, even though it's been a while I don't think the legend of the Cullens could have faded completely. Anyone asks we don't know them. Never heard of them. Also keep your thoughts to yourself, Jenna." She scowled in the back seat.

"One time! You let a few words slip one time and no one lets you forget it!" she protested and everyone started laughing.

"One time? Jenna you told a human boy he smelled good enough for you to eat!" Vee spluttered, still laughing. Max had then pulled her out of the classroom before she could follow up on her words. Luckily the kid just thought she was flirting with him but unfortunately we still had to move or risk exposure.

"I think that's it for now but lets just keep a low profile okay?" they all nodded and before I knew it, we were at Forks High School.

Show time.


	11. The calm before the Storm

**I don't deserve your reviews. **

**I really don't. **

**I'm an awful, awful writer to hold this chapter from you for so long but I'm praying for you guys to forgive me. **

**Pweeeeeease? **

**(Come on, I'm sounding like tweety bird for you!!!!)**

**If so, please review. I'm posting my next chapter tomorrow. **

**Promise. **

**Xoxo**

**The ever remorseful **

**Tress Blues**

**Chapter 11. School Blues**

**Bella's POV**

Everyone filed into the school ground just a few minutes before the bell. For what it was worth, I wanted to run all the way back to England after the stares I got. Constant murmurings followed our every move as they scrutinized us.

Max looked like he was about to pop a blood vessel. I saw Jenna put a hand on his shoulder. There were the presumable glares from girls and dazzled stares from boys but it all boiled down to a neat little point: we were new and different.

"Whoa. Have you seen the new kids? I mean I know they were from London but seriously how are they that pale?"

"Do you reckon they're siblings or hooked up? Wonder if they're single…"

"Who do they think they are? Coming in here and stealing all the attention. It's like they don't even want it!"

"So pretty. But they're probably catty and mean like all the others. Shame really."

The comments were steadily getting louder as we approached the front desk at the administrator building. When we finally got inside, everyone took a deep breath. The woman at the counter seemed baffled by our appearance but she was polite enough not to mention anything. God bless her.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely and I stepped up to her. She reminded me of the receptionist who'd first helped me the first time, when I was human. She had frizzy red hair and a purple shirt the colour of violets.

"Yes. My name is Isabella Sparrow and this is my brother Andrew. That's Vee Matthews and her siblings Jenna and Max. And this is Chen…Dracula, he's their brother too. We're new here." I introduced ourselves and everyone gave her smiles. I wondered if this poor woman knew she was surrounded by people who drank blood. I doubted it since she didn't run away screaming.

Instead, she smiled and tapped at her computer. "Ah let's see. Hmm." She said, tapping away at the keyboard. She frowned looked up at us again and then typed a little faster. "Oh yes, you must be the new students from _London_. Sorry for the hold up. We've got another family coming today as well so you won't be alone. Here are your schedules. And if you could get your teachers to sign these slips and then hand it in here at the end of the day that would be wonderful." She said pleasantly. I smiled again and took the papers. At least we wouldn't be the only new students of spectacle.

We shuffled through the door and looked over our schedules. Jenna and Max weren't in any of our classes being two years younger but Chen and Vee were in most of my other courses. Andrew had Advanced Chemistry with Vee however, the only class I could get them both into. The only thing they would like about it would be having each other's company. The only thing all of us had was lunch. And since we didn't eat…

Andrew looked at his watch. "Guys we have about two minutes to get to class. Seeya at lunch?" he said, already taking off down the hallway. Andrew was weird like that. We weren't sure if it was a natural thing or some special ability but he always knew where he was going.

Vee nodded and walked with Chen and me to Calculus. I was positive she hated every step with passion. Just like me. Chen on the other hand adored Math. He was practically skipping down the hallway when we entered the room. The teacher was a man with a big round potbelly and thick-rimmed glasses. Everything about him screamed Math geek.

"Ah, you must be the new students. Please take a seat and we'll get started." He said slowly, still looking at Vee and I. All I could think of was 'Ew'. We nodded and took places way up the back while Chen stayed near the front and looked happily up at Mr Pond as he explained the theory of x. The rest of the class was either looking at us or looking like they were going to die of boredom.

When class ended, we all rushed out of the room and down the corridor to English. Mr Pond had taken a little more time than was necessary to finish. I have truly, never seen anyone get more excited about a letter than Mr Pond did.

At least English had a slightly better curriculum. We began like most start of school days, talking about the rest of the year and what exercises we were required to do. "We will be studying Romeo and Juliet for the most part of this term and before you moan and groan let me just say this will count for half of your grade. Learn it or fail." Mrs Krill warned and the class immediately shut up, instead taking notes as she lectured. I got the feeling no one wanted to fail English. It was one of those base subjects you needed wherever you went in life. My family was staying here no matter what we did so we weren't that concerned.

When lunch finally rolled around, we were all pretty much irritated out of our skulls. "I swear every girl in this school has been making eyes at me. They don't really see much past the looks do they? If they did, I bet they wouldn't want to go out. The whole prospect of sucking blood wouldn't really appeal to them." Max complained, snickering. Jenna whacked his arm.

Andrew looked worn out. "Seriously I think I have carpal tunnel from writing notes all day. The phrase 'Sorry I'm taken' is much harder to write when you've already done it 10 times." Andrew whined, wrapping his arm around Vee's waist as they bought their food.

Chen looked at him. "Ten? Wow, your numbers are lagging. I got 19 in World Studies alone." He teased and I shoved him.

"Chen can you control your raging hormones please? Seriously, just stay under the radar. Got it?" I warned him as we sat down at the table, furthest away from the window. If we saw too much greenery, I'm sure we'd be too tempted to ditch school altogether. And wouldn't that go over well on the first day?

We spoke too fast for human ears to hear until the end of lunch. That's when we smelled it. As one, we inhaled and froze. The hunting party from the woods was back. And it was in the school.

*

Everyone's heads snapped to me. I was leader; I made decisions about this sort of thing. I swallowed and gazed around the windows and canteen, ignoring their stares for the moment, trying to think. The hunting party was here. Five of them, all vampires. I inhaled deeply and let out the softest hiss. There were two more scents hidden with them. Seven vampires, hostile or not, was not a good idea to mess with.

I tried to rationalize. They were in the forest, as a group. A thought hit me. Maybe they were vegetarians as well. Why would they be out in the woods if they were looking for humans? Why not go to a city or into town? Tree coverage? To cover their tracks? Think Bella, think.

I breathed again out of habit and suddenly the smells were closer. And different than other vampires. In fact, they smelled like us. My hopes soared that perhaps we could get out of this unscathed. If they had no quarrel with us then we could simply live in peace together. Cover stories would have to be remade, two unrelated families of scarily beautiful people were sure to be recognised. We'd need to have a meeting, a slight unconformability on our behalf. Bad experiences on our side had lead us to the ritual of staying far away from others.

One more breath…and I froze. They were closer than ever. Maybe a few corridors away from the canteen and moving closer. Could we risk contact? Max and Jenna were still fairly young and had a sore spot for strangers. Vee and Andrew I knew could control themselves, maybe the kids but Chen wouldn't take part in it. No amount of coaxing would ever lure him out of his untrusting ways. He didn't trust anyone but his own coven and would most certainly flee from others. I didn't want to lose Chen. He was my brother in every way except blood and even then, we both drank it so perhaps we were even closer than normal. If we could make it back to the house and pack our things, maybe we could leave…

"Bella?" I looked at Vee, startled. Her eyes were glued to the canteen doors, still peacefully closed. "What do we do?" she breathed. I clenched my teeth.

"We-we stay. For the moment. I want to know who they are. If their hostile we leave immediately. No questions, no complaints, no nothing. Understand?" I replied, quickly looking down at the sandwich I'd bought. I could sense their responses through the table. Chen's hands clenched onto the wood, Andrew tensed further, the twins shifted slightly towards the windows and Vee nodded slowly.

And then the doors opened.

**Guess who?**

**I know its kinda short. It feels sort of like a filler chapter actually, I don't really like it except for the deductive reasoning in from Bella and the slight personality revelation for Chen. **

**Next will be up tomorrow. **

**P  
R  
O  
M  
I  
S  
E  
!!**

**R&R please.**

**P.S: Chen relates to Bella, that's why they're so close. Remember the woman Chen killed when he first changed into a vampire? Well imagine a sort of Jacob Bella bond between them and you get the picture. **

**P.S.S: CHEN IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT, IN LOVE WITH BELLA AND NEITHER IS SHE IN LOVE WITH HIM. That would be just too gross. **


	12. Exactly like the first

**Personally, I think it's a little melodramatic in the first bits but it's how I saw it in my head. Maybe I'm going mushy and over-the-top in my writing age. I laughed soooooo hard at your reviews, most of which went along the lines of 'WHAT THE FREAKING HELL!?!?!?!?!?! WHAT IS WITH THE STUPID CLIFFIE?!?!?!?!?!' They really made my day; I went from 138 to 158 in one chapter. And to think, I was amazed when I got 10 reviews for the first time. **

**Xoxo**

**Tress**

**Chapter 12. Exactly like the First**

**Bella's POV**

I don't think I would've been able to contain myself had I not been a vampire. I don't think I would've been able to stop myself from running right out of the canteen, out of Forks, out of America for heaven's sakes! But I was a vampire and I had a coven all looking at them and me and watching my every move so I stayed right where I was. Honestly, I think it was partially out of shock as well. Because I was right. It was vegetarian vampires. They all had golden topaz eyes, just like ours and they were all beautiful and pale just like us. And not once in my entire life, had I wanted to be as wrong as I did now. Because it wasn't just any vegetarian vampires.

It was them.

It was _him_.

It was the Cullens.

Had I been alive, my heart would've stopped as I watched them enter the canteen silently. Trying to blend as much as possible, the Cullens grabbed trays and minimal amounts of food before heading to the table they'd sat at over ninety years ago. But they couldn't hide themselves from the watchful eyes of the senior year. The room was quiet as everyone glanced between us and them, comparing us. I saw Jenna squirm but it barely registered. I was too numb for anything else.

Then suddenly a head of short, black spiky hair flicked up from her tray and Alice's perfect, pixie-like face went from shocked, to angry, to happy, to sad and then confused. Our eyes connected and her face darkened once more, signalling her honey-haired husband Jasper. My skin prickled; the last time we'd met, he'd tried to kill me. It was silly to think of him in such a way because he couldn't hurt me now but I still pictured Jasper as a terrifying force to be reckoned with.

My gaze travelled down the table and I stared at Emmett, with his big muscly figure and curly dark hair before moving onto the stunned glare I received from the goddess-worthy face of Rosalie. Somewhere in my head, I knew I shouldn't have been surprised. She'd hated me before, why should her feelings have changed? I didn't even need to feel scared of her anymore. I was a vampire; I could easily take her on and possibly win too. But her eyes were so accusing, so hating, so venomous that I recoiled a little from the intensity. And finally there was him.

He hadn't changed a bit. Not a single cell of him was different from the day I first saw him and although I knew he wouldn't change, it was still unnerving. The perpetually seventeen-year-old Greek god had the same bronze hair and pale skin, the same defined jaw and topaz eyes. Perhaps it was my mind trying to change his image but he was slumping a little too. And whilst his expression was blank, the turmoil in it was irrefutable. Pained and angered and miserable.

Suddenly his face rose to meet mine and it was as if we'd never met. As if nothing between us had happened. To add to the façade of the first day of school, when I was human that is, his face was curious. Not angry, or annoyed, not sad or happy, simply curious before changing to frustrated. I felt my own face twitch into a frown. He didn't remember me. How was that possible? I chastised myself for being so conceited. He'd wanted me to forget him, it was only natural for him to forget me.

Suddenly there were vibrations in the ground. They were tiny, probably just a truck outside but it was enough to break his eye contact for a moment as he frowned at the ground beneath him. The vibrations got bigger after a moment but it couldn't break my gaze and thoughts. They were here. They were back. He was back. I couldn't say his name, I thought disgusted. I should be over him by now; this is no way to act. The vibrations got even bigger, the floor began to tremble minutely. What did I do? Did we run? Did we stand a chance? I felt stupid. They wouldn't hurt us physically. But could I leave? I didn't think I could handle him being so close and then just leaving. Or would they leave? Was that better? Could we continue like this never happened? Could I live alone with my coven in peace? The floor started shake. Not small little buzzes but rocking back and forth, blurring the lines of objects as they rattled.

The students were worried. They murmured roughly, looking around. The lights flickered and shook even harder. The very earth I was standing on seemed to growl as it shook and suddenly all the tables were sliding apart. The Cullens' in particular shook backwards, even closer to the wall. They looked around, for once, just as confused as the humans they tried so desperately to blend in with. Chaos reigned around the room.

The lights rattled and flickered on and off sporadically. Two of the canteen tables, now abandoned fell over with a crack. Someone screamed which made everyone else begin yelling too. A section of the roof cracked and split, falling overhead with the students jumping out of the way just in time. The screaming got louder. I think a teacher came in.

But all this paled in comparison. Everything meant nothing. Except for the fact that Edward Cullen was back in Forks.

There was a loud hissing noise and the room fogged up, breaking my train wreck of thoughts momentarily. I looked around to see everyone huddled in corners of the room, looking fearfully up at the ceiling, particularly the giant crack running the length of it and black, grotty metal pipe that stuck out of it at an awkward angle, evaporated water hissing into the canteen. My eyes widened. What was happening?

Or rather, what _had_ happened? As soon as I withdrew from my spiralling thoughts, the trembles, this strange, sudden earthquake stopped in an instant. I felt someone grab my arm and yank me from our, strangely untouched table. Students were beginning to come out from behind the corners, making a run for the canteen doors while the tremors stopped. "Bella get up!" I heard Andrew all but hiss and my self-preservation instincts kicked in.

I nodded to the rest of them and we all rose as one, gliding towards the canteen doors with as much human speed as possible. Vee had her hands on Jenna and Max, guiding them as a big sister would, whilst Chen and Andrew hung back, looking around for any threats. I did too, glancing around us for a moment. The corridor was full of loud conversations, each of them tinged with panic and confusion. The teachers were vainly trying to call order whilst their students fussed around in terror. People were in a desperate scramble to get away from the canteen, a majority of them were rushing to the car park to drive away. "Guys, home now." I ordered, quietly as we weaved through the stricken, hysterical

I only looked back once. But the Cullen table was as empty as ours. A fact that made me even more panicked than I was before.

**Dun. Dun. Duuuuuun.**

**Xoxo**

**Tress**

**R&R**


	13. I missed Her

**I'm in a good mood. **

**Don't know why. **

**Don't really care why. **

**Xoxo**

**Tress**

**P.S. I'd love to get to 200 reviews. My two hundredth reviewer will get a badge of awesomeness from me! **

**Edward's POV**

I didn't understand why everyone was so worked up. Well I did, but I knew that it wasn't true so it seemed silly to worry. The earthquake was the least of their problems apparently. It didn't matter that the school had almost collapsed. They were just wondering at the new coven. It was strange, I admit, to see another vegetarian clan so close to Forks but it wasn't unheard of. And just because their were some similarities between Bella, beautiful, sweet, good, _human_ Bella, and this other vampire, did not mean they had the right to make assumptions.

_What is he thinking? She was right there! RIGHT THERE AND HE JUST STARED!_

Alice's thoughts annoyed me. She was piecing together the bits of evidence about this new coven and trying to fit it with her awful theory of Bella becoming a vampire. But that wasn't possible. "Alice, enough." I whispered as we walked. The humans here were easily frightened and the tremors had caused them all to evacuate the school immediately. We walked silently out the eastern door and down the grassy hill to the car park.

She just glared at me, as did, surprisingly, the rest of my family. "She was right there. Bella Swan is alive and you don't even care!" she hissed, her face looking frustrated and angry. Her eyes were darkened, her face paler. She looked for all the world, like a vampire.

I winced at her words, the deep inflections of anger and the implications. I shook my head at all of them as we reached the car, among the hordes of students. My shiny Volvo attracted strange looks, but among the dying panic, it was only the difference of style that made them look. There were no admirers or wondering theories. "Alice that was not Bella. I would know if it was." Because it wouldn't happen. She was human, I chanted. She was human. That tiny shred of knowledge was holding me together. They're thoughts were tearing me apart.

Alice groaned and I caught a small flicker of vision. The new vampires were walking towards our house…they were careful…only five of them this time…Alice closed it up before I could get the full picture. I looked at her quizzically and she shrugged petulantly. "If you're being stubborn, so can I." she replied, simply.

I rolled my eyes and opened the car for everyone. I hadn't noticed the others' thoughts until now, but they were just as loud and obnoxious as Alice. _Can't believe it was her. Rose doesn't seem to be taking it well. I'll talk to her later…What is she doing here? She's just hurting us all. We should kick them out of Forks, we were here first…Edward you are such an idiot. Alice is about to blow a gasket and you're so desperate I feel like running to Australia to escape it. Face it! It was HER! _I met Jasper's relentless gaze in the rear-view mirror as we sped out of the jammed car park.

"No Jasper. It wasn't." I replied, sternly. There was a collective groan in the car.

"It was so! And when you figure it out, you'll want to smack yourself for not seeing it earlier!" Alice growled with vindictive satisfaction. I yanked the car to a stop in front of the Cullen mansion and turned to glare at her.

"Alice Cullen, that vampire in that room was NOT Bella Swan!" I was fed up. All their assumptions were making it hard to think clearly.

"Face it-"

"NO YOU FACE IT!" I roared. "THAT WAS NOT HER ALICE! IT WAS NOT!"

Alice's onyx eyes narrowed to slits. "Proof?"

My eyes narrowed to match, unaware of the profound silence brewing in the back seat. "I might not be able to hear her thoughts but Jasper can't feel her mood either." I replied, smugly. It was strange that this new vampire could block her thoughts from me. I'd only ever seen, well, heard Bella do it. But there had to be other shields in the world somewhere, perhaps this was simply another private mind or maybe even a learned ability. Besides, Bella's shield had held me back but never had it stopped Jasper's ability.

"If she was a vampire, the ability would've intensified wouldn't it?" Alice countered. I rolled my eyes as we left the car and walked through the door.

"Alice, I know you want her back-"

"No you don't!" she screamed. I froze. I hadn't ever seen Alice like this. Usually she was so playful, carefree. "You have no idea." Alice continued, softer than before. "You lost her and I understand how much that hurt you. It's not easy, not pleasing, not exactly possible to lose someone you care abut like that without suffering. But I lost my sister. We all did and if there's some way that that is her," she persisted, her eyes fierce, "then I'll be damned if you're going to take her from me again!"

With that, she disappeared upstairs. Emmett let out a low chuckle. "Bad choice of words." I heard Rosalie elbow him in the gut. Jasper flitted after Alice, but not before giving me an even, disapproving look. _Oh my god. _

Esme's thoughts caught me off guard and I turned towards their origins in worry. But Esme didn't sound hurt. Physically at least. I caught a few brief seconds of a glossy white card in her pale white hands and then she pushed me out. "Esme?" I called. She was upstairs in an old guest room from what I could tell.

"Edward? Maybe you should look at this…" she trailed off and I sped up the steps in a vampiric blur. Esme stood facing the dresser of the room, looking, horrified, down at the card I'd seen earlier. _How is this possible? We should've come back earlier. We should've helped her. Oh why did we leave? We could've protected her. _Her thoughts were lamenting.

"Esme?" I called hesitantly. I moved to her side at the dresser when suddenly she whipped around, her face agonized.

"I'm so sorry Edward." She whispered, pressing the card in my hand. Her thoughts gave her away. _She shouldn't have had to go through it alone. _No. No. NO! I saw the card in her thoughts:

_Congratulations! You made it to stage four in the Swan Mystery Hunt._

_If you're reading this then it is past September 25__th__ and the Hunt has begun. You have also broken into the White mansion. _

_Miss Swan spent much of her time here, as her father claimed. It appears that a certain family lived in this house which captured her attention, romantically or otherwise. There have been reports that the previous owners were quite beautiful and charming, a note that perhaps, did not escape the young Miss Bella. Some people say that she haunts this place, mourning a loved one. Who knows? Her disappearance left many bewildered. Did she leave after the family in this place?_

_The next area of your search is in a place where an old family friend allegedly lived…La Push Reservation. Follow the clues for-_

I couldn't see anymore. Esme ran out of the room leaving me stunned with the simple white card that I reread, to make sure she hadn't misread. Part of me hoped, prayed she had. But no. It was all there in simple legible print.

My mind flew faster than it had ever done before. Vampiric minds are different from humans. Not having to breathe or worry about balance, we can disregard some basic things which take up space. We can think of many things at one time unlike humans who juggle their thoughts, only thinking about one at a time. Bella had gone missing. Around the time, Charlie was still alive. I connected the dots rapidly. She had gone. I remembered a vision Alice had had at the beginning of my self-sentence, when I was still considering it.

The same one she'd had when I'd met Bella for the first time. It was Alice and Bella talking together, flashing from Bella's human brown eyes to vampire red ones to golden eyes to Alice not being there at all. It annoyed me to no end because I knew the different paths which would lead me to these futures.

I would either cave and not leave at all, leading to the first.

Or we would go back and I would change Bella myself, thus leading to her new born eyes.

The golden eyes were disconcerting because they meant that I'd go back change her and she would live until her eyes turned amber, which didn't really differ much from the second and I didn't understand the meaning of it.

Finally, Bella would live on as a human, meaning that we did not go back and she was safe. Unfortunately this vision didn't occur much compared to the others.

Now I understood the meaning of the golden eyes. Bella was back, we would talk with her but she would be fully grown by now, living off animals, away from us. This was where the choice had lead me.

I was in heaven and hell, an interesting combination. On one side, I was agonized that she had gone through her transformation, her life alone. But she wasn't all alone, I thought, she had a coven. A terrible thought ran itself through my head.

Had she created these vampires? Had she condemned them? She'd never thought much of joining me, never seen the huge disadvantages of joining the Cullen clan but to go this far…

The other side of me was in heaven. That she was back. That she was alive. That my beautiful, lovely, sweet Bella was back with me, so close…So close and yet so far away. I understood Alice's fury now. I'd simply stared at her. Exactly like in the beginning, I'd only been curious at her shield unwilling to look past it.

And she was right.

I did want to smack myself for missing my first chance at talking to Bella for 90 years.

And they say vampires are smart creatures.

**R&R**

**200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200. 200.**


	14. We Leave Now

**Ello!  
I am having an absolutely horrible week. **

**Really, it's been awful.**

**But now I'm starting to write some more chapters and I feel happy again. This chapter's pitifully short but I'm uploading the next one right after I'm finished here and it's much, much longer.**

**I loved your reviews; they pretty much made my day again. I found two main categories: **

**The 'Ok. No. Why did you cliffhanger it? WHY!?!?!?!?!'s **

**And **

**The 'I'm happy now, can't wait for more's.**

**I loved both even though my sister had a fit reading the first ones. She couldn't believe I'd gotten so many people interested in a story until I showed her and she flipped out.**

**Oh and I've set up a poll:**

**Should Jacob Black make a reappearance in 'Too late for Sorry'? Keeping in mind that I'm sitting on a nice little stack of imprint stories I'm starting to write?**

**I think that's it. **

**Except for the fact that I've changed Bella's last name to Sparrow. Just realised that it would raise questions if Bella Swan suddenly appeared, when they were having a Swan Mystery Hunt. Anyway. **

**Onwards!!!!  
T.r.e.s.s B.l.u.e.s**

**Chapter 14. We leave now. **

It was sort of strange how silent everything was after we exited school. For our coven at least. As the other human students flipped out, the Sparrows, Draculas and Matthews all piled into the one car and headed home in utter speechlessness.

Everyone was silent in the car ride.

Everyone was silent as we entered the house.

And then all hell broke loose.

"WHO THE HELL WERE THEY?" Max fumed, turning his eyes to me. I steadily ignored him and set about packing things away.

"Bella, tell us, we need to know about them. Is it going to turn to a fight?" Andrew asked but I didn't even listen. All I could think was that I needed to leave. Now. Everyone started asking questions, all at the same time. It was easier to ignore them that way, surprisingly.

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN! ANSWER US!" I turned to Vee out of pure shock, she was staring at me with a look of pain and sympathy. "Bella we need to know." She added, softer. I shook my head and went back to packing. I swept through my room and then the twins, picking everything up and putting it into the moving boxes.

How could this happen? They weren't supposed to be here! I knew that my outrage over their appearance was just to hide their reactions. His reactions. It hurt my already battered heart that Edward hadn't shown even the slightest recollection of me. I felt dry sobs rip from my chest as I packed.

I was in the middle of taping up one of my boxes when suddenly Chen's hand gripped my wrist tightly. I looked up, my face pained. "We need to go. Please don't fight me on this." I whispered, brokenly. Chen wrapped his arms around me like the brother I never had and I sobbed uselessly into his chest. It felt nice to have Chen for support. He was my rock. I used to joke that he was my vampiric Jacob but joking was the last thing I wanted to do now. I felt useless and broken. I couldn't even hold it together for my family. I was pathetic.

"It's okay Bells. It's okay." He whispered softly. I don't remember how long it took for my chest to stop ripping and simply throb dully but it was darker when I stopped. Vee and Andrew looked at me with identical, sympathetic expressions whilst Jenna looked a little shocked at my sobs. I never cried in front of them if I could help it. Max stood at the window, glaring into the east where the school was.

"Bella?" Vee whispered. I turned to her with a tired face. "That was them wasn't it? The Cullens?"

The name sent a ripple of pain over my heart but I shook it off and nodded. "That was them Vee. Please, let's move away. I don't think-" I had to take a breath although it did nothing to relieve the pain. "I don't think I can live through this."

Andrew nodded. "Well at least we know they're peaceful. That's a good sign." Andrew was something of a military man when he was human. "Should we negotiate? It'll be difficult finding a town with the right amount of cloud cover this time of year."

I shook my head, my hands still gripped around Chen's upper arms. "No. I don't want interaction with them." I replied, softly.

Max growled and we turned to him shocked. "It's all **their** fault!" he snapped. "They're pitiful excuses for living creatures after they what they did! We should make them pay for it!" Max's anger shocked me. I found myself shaking my head. Amazing, after everything, I can still defend them.

"Max, it wasn't like that. The Cullens…Edward," I hesitated on the name, "gave me so much. It never made sense for him to love me. I was apparently destined to be entwined with mythological creatures because when he left, I became closer with Jacob and the werewolves. I can't blame him for doing exactly what was expected of him. I was human, it was better that he continued life with someone who wouldn't wither away." I explained. Max shook his head.

"It's still their fault Bella. They shouldn't have left you like that. It wasn't fair. It isn't fair now." He protested.

"Regardless, I still want to leave. I can't take seeing him again and…and still feeling these things for him." I replied, thickly. My coven, my family nodded and disappeared upstairs to pack. But before they left, Jenna gave me a slightly knowing look which made me think that they had a hidden agenda.

I didn't look into it too much. I simply sat on the couch with Chen for a while, letting my chest break to pieces with memories of them.


	15. Love of your life

**Ello, I promised to upload this one right after the last one and I'm sorry about the wait. It was the whole unlucky thirteen thing giving me the fritz. I didnt want to screw it up. This one is in Jenna's POV and I hope you like it. She's roughly about sixteen years old in looks so fairly young even for a vampire. **

**BTW, Max and Jenna, as i might have mentioned before, are trackers. They kinda just know where people are. Not who or why they are there but just that they are. It makes them notice things too like body language or little signs that show them details about the people.**

**xoxo**

**Tress.**

**P.s Might add any questions from reviews down the bottom for the next chapter. Please take my poll. Pweeeeeease? **

**Chapter 15. The Love of your life. **

**Jenna's POV**

"Jen?" I turned around to see Max in my doorway, looking slightly concerned. It was weird to first see his face after our transformation. It was like, while his face had grown less angular and more boyish , mine had grown more girly. I didn't like it. I never did. But with our hair the exact same shade, like a peeled banana and our skin pale white it was easier to see the similarities.

"What's wrong Max?" I asked, worried. Max wasn't known for his control. His concern made me think he'd done something bad. He seemed to guess my thoughts because he chuckled and sat next to me on my couch.

"Nothing Jenna. Chill." He laughed and I rolled my eyes. The pun about our unnaturally cold skin was hardly funny anymore. "But really. I wanted ask you about this afternoon." He said, confusedly. I nodded for him to continue. "Well, it's just…I wanted your opinion about that earthquake. You know, in the cafeteria." He clarified and for the first time since school, I wondered too about that strange shaking. What with the Cullens showing up and all, I hadn't really gotten a chance to mull it over. I was puzzled over it though. Forks wasn't anywhere near a fault line, it made no sense.

Unless it wasn't natural…hmm, that was an interesting theory. "Jen?" I looked at Max with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, I'm not sure but I think maybe-" I began but Max cut me off.

"Oh no the blonde is thinking!" he made a face of mock-horror. "Somebody get a camera this is a monumental event!" He barely dodged the lamp I threw at his head. I growled.

"Cut it out Max! You wanted my thoughts remember?" I pointed out and Max huffed.

"Party pooper."

"Brat."

"Snob"  
"Baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Max whined and I smirked.

"Of course not. Now open wide for the Choo-choo train." I said in a baby voice, pretending to spoon food into his mouth. When my hand neared his mouth, Max bit it and I recoiled, the venom stinging my hand slightly. "You are such a loser Max! That's it GET OUT!" I yelled and kicked him off my bed. I wondered how we were related let alone twins.

Max put his hands up in defence and sat back down on my bed. "Okay, okay. I'll stop now. Really, what d'you reckon?"

I put a finger on my chin. "Well. I have a few theories. One, it was a natural earthquake, nothing abnormal."

Max snorted. "Unlikely."

I kicked him in the shin. "Be quiet! Two, it could be the result of an underground spring or something completely natural as well."

"Max snorted again. "Incredibly unlikely."

I kicked him in the stomach this time. "Shut up! Or three, it was a vampire power." Max opened his mouth to say something and I pointed to the area between his legs. "Keep a lid on it, there's only one more place I can kick!" When he'd closed his mouth I continued. "Y'know how Bella can reject powers?" he nodded. "Well, what if she could reject people too? Did you see how the Cullens' table moved today? Like someone was pushing it away? What if thinking about them, seeing them, made her powers flare and you know…pushed them away?" I rambled, my theory getting more and more detailed as it went on. It made sense.

Max looked doubtful though. "Well, yeah but wouldn't we have noticed before?"

"Haven't we? Think Max. Remember the times when someone gave her food? And it slid away a little when she looked at it? We blamed it on the table being wonky but what if she was rejecting objects? Wouldn't that mean she could reject people too?" I asked, getting excited. Which brought my thoughts back to the Cullens. Bella had told us about them, about how they simply left like she was nothing. I thought it was horribly unfair and although I hadn't said anything, I was with Max completely.

"Kids?" a soft voice asked and we both turned to see Vee in the doorway. Although we called her mom most times since she was the closest thing we could have had. "Kids, we need to leave now. Bella's gone to the airport to get us tickets but your dad, Chen and I think that we should try to see if we can sort this out without leaving." She explained, softly.

"Well, I still think we should just leave but whatever." Chen's voice carried down the hall and I looked at Max.

"If I'm about to rip someone's head off, stop me?" I said, through gritted teeth. The anger I felt was foreign to me. It was ugly.

Max nodded. "Unless I'm helping you." Vee rolled her eyes.

"Come on, downstairs, we're running." She said and when we got the door, Chen gave our parents a dirty look before taking off into the forests that surrounded our house. Running was amazing for me. I'd always been athletic as a human but this was simply stunning.

The way vampires could run was almost like watching a ballet dance. Graceful and quick and beautiful. I watched as we run, careful as always for any stray humans, although anyone out tonight wasn't in danger. From us at least. The smell of human blood was mouth-watering. Max and I had tasted it once before, when we were still young and it tasted like everything good in the world. Maybe because, it was essentially the very compounds of life, we were drinking. Something so amazing as life must taste amazing too right? At least that's what I thought.

My opinions kept my mind off where we were going but as soon as we came across their scents, the hackles on my neck rose and we slowed to a halt outside a huge, white mansion.

Vee put a hand on my back as we went to the front door. Max scoffed. "What do we do, knock?" he asked rhetorically and a tad bitterly. I grabbed his hand too.

"No need for that, we have good hearing around here," a voice said, pleasantly. A man of maybe thirty hovered in the open doorway, looking apprehensive and pleased at the same time. My power, my brother's power was to know where people were. I could just feel where they were. Not pictures just knowledge. There were seven of them, the blonde haired vampire man here with us and six more of them in the living room. My mouth twisted into a snarl as we were ushered lightly into the living room. Mom and Dad acted as if they were perfectly at home but they were a little too sense to pull it off. I felt a sudden sense of ease spread over me, like I wanted to be alert but I couldn't muster enough suspicion or doubt for it.

I spotted the blond haired one from lunch giving us subtle looks with the same type of eye that military personnel have. I bared my teeth slightly, out of instinct and the ease spread over me stronger. That was going to be annoying…when I was able to feel annoyed again. "I'm sorry for being so direct, but might I ask what you are doing here?" the blonde haired man asked, politely. He ushered to the couch and I nudged Max. We sat down, carefully.

Vee and Andrew stood behind us and Chen simply stood near the door, not trying to hide his unwillingness to be here. Mom stepped forward. "We are sorry for the short notice of our visit. We wanted to work out a truce of sorts. B…Our leader, has decided that it might be best for us to move away to avoid suspicion." She said, lightly. "But we wanted to know if it could be resolved without either party leaving." Her voice was strong and confident but worried.

I studied them as they looked at Vee. There were seven definitely. Four males, three females. The leader appeared to be the blonde man who had welcomed us earlier and one of the women, the curly haired one, stood beside him like a wife, slightly older than the rest of them. There were three pairs, from their body language at least. The big one with curly dark hair and muscles like a wrestler was with the outstandingly beautiful woman with blonde hair, from their position on the love seat, his arms around her shoulders. The smaller one with black spiky hair was clutching the blonde one from lunch, his hand tight in hers. And then there was him.

I could see why Bella fell for him. He had bronze hair and a sculpted face, his eyes lighter and troubled. He was handsome, even for a vampire. Max saw me sizing them up and nodded slightly.

Being a tracker was a strange feeling that we both shared. We noticed little things, like body language or positions, that we hadn't noticed before in anyone besides each other. But we could tell now. And I saw Max's face curl up at the prospect of having to speak with these people who were so obviously troubled. As if he'd said the words to my face, he thought that Bella would forgive these vampires who had wronged her so much. She was just like that.

But what would happen then? Would she forgive _him_? Would she leave us? That troubled Max the most. Our silent inspection was only a second long. The blonde haired man smiled again revealing perfect white teeth. Very human. "Of course, we'd like nothing better-" he began but the blonde woman cut him off under her breath.

"Speak for yourself." She hissed, so faint that I barely caught it. But I did and in a second, both Max and I were crouched and snarling. How could she say that? She wants _us_ to move? After what they did to Bella they want _US_ to pay for it?! Our positions got her hissing and she had her boyfriend growling as well. It got a little tense to say the least.

"Jenna, Max, control yourselves." Andrew hissed and we reluctantly straightened up. Vee gave us disappointed looks and the blonde man frowned at the woman.

"I apologize for Rosalie. It was uncalled for." He said, gravely. Rosalie. Hm. Figures.

The bronze haired one cracked a smile as Andrew began to speak. "We apologize for Max and Jenna as well. They are still quite young." He replied, formally. I rolled my eyes. "My name is Andrew, this is my wife Vee. These are our, well, our children, Max and Jenna. And this is Chen." He introduced pointing to all of us.

The leader nodded. "I am Carlisle, my wife Esme and my children, Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, Jasper and Edward." We all hissed at the last name, Vee and Andrew included.

"You're him aren't you?" Chen spat. I couldn't blame him. He loved Bella. We all did and this complete _tool _hurt her. Chen was shaking with rage and I could see my parents were close to it. The ease was back but it barely helped. Edward looked unsurprised and a little…angry? What did he have to be angry about? He had Bella and then he screwed her up! Andrew put a hand on Chen's back and pushed him to the door. We could hear him chewing Chen out for being so stupid.

"You are aren't you?" I barked and his eyes narrowed to slits. What was that Bella had said about this family? Something about mind reading, she was always a little reluctant to talk about anyone of the Cullens. I smiled in my head grimly and thought of every swear word I knew…which happened to be quite a few. _Inconsiderate worthless piece of trash for leaving her like that! Like she was completely pathetic and unworthy of your time! _Edward stood up in anger and I smiled in satisfaction, before standing up myself. I thought about how sad he made Bella, hoping to guilt him into pain. I thought about every time she sobbed when she thought we weren't looking, how broken she looked, the haunted look in her eyes…

There were loud snarls but I couldn't tell who it was from. Probably both sides. "Don't." he growled and I smirked.

"What? Don't tell the truth?" Carlisle stepped between us, his hands out in a very human gesture.

"Enough. Edward. Jenna." He said, firmly. Max trembled with rage. He _hated_ being told what to do. Absolutely _hated_ it. It was worse when someone told me what to do. I growled but stood back with my parents, half dragging Max with me. I was more level headed than he was. The ease came back, this time I felt like I was flying, elatedly peaceful... "Thankyou Jasper, but you might be over doing it a little. Is that all in your coven? Who is your leader?"

Like they didn't already know. Andrew and Chen had reappeared inside and their faces twisted up in a grimace. Vee cleared her throat. "Her name is Isabella Sparrow. Swan, when she was human but we've changed it for the sake of exposure. There was a small…complication with our arrival. I'm sure you've heard of this ridiculous Swan Mystery Hunt by now?" Bella had told us about it. I felt so sad for her that day. Edward left the room at a human pace, out the front door.

"You can give it out but you can't take it can you?" I hissed as he passed me and I felt the glare he forced on me. Max smiled at me in approval.

"Excuse my son. You may already know that he had some…ties with your leader-" Carlisle apologised again. He was so good at it I wondered why he had so much practise. How many times did he have to do it?

"TIES?!" Chen exploded but before he could do a thing Rosalie was up and glaring at him.

"Ties that ended badly! We told him it was a waste of time! It would only end badly! We had to leave because of her!" she screeched, her nails turning to claws.

"Oh cry me a river! You had to move! How awful for you! You only have to do it every five years or so anyway!" Max barked, sarcastically.

"But don't worry, at least she stayed human! Oh wait, THAT DIDN'T WORK OUT EITHER!" I added, my voice rose.

"We didn't want to leave!" the pixie protested, Alice I think her name was and I scoffed. That was her great defence? We didn't **want** to?

"Of course you didn't! You still did though and you left her broken and alone!" I retorted. Her face screwed up in pain and Jasper glared at me. I scowled as a hand rested on my shoulder, pinning me back subtly. I looked up to see Vee looking at me with a sad expression.

"Jenna, let's go. Maybe Bella is right. We should leave." She said, softly. I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream. I wanted to hit something so hard it shattered into pieces. I didn't want to leave! It wasn't fair!

"NO!" Alice suddenly screamed and she sat up with a wide-eyed expression. "No! You can't! You can't…_leave_," she choked out as if it physically hurt her to think of it. "Not now! We just found her again! Please!" she begged.

I felt exasperated. They weren't understanding. "Why do you care? You left her too!" I exclaimed, trying to get it through her head. You can't just say I'm sorry over something like that! Alice shook her head sadly.

"Yes, but we thought she could get over it." She said, weakly. I could tell she felt remorse. It was enough to make me almost like her. Almost.

"How do you get over the love of your life?" I asked, rhetorically. Vee pulled us upwards and we complied, Max and I walking to the door. But of course it wouldn't be that easy.

Alice gasped and her face went blank for a moment before her eyes bulged. "Oh." She said, giving no more explanation. Then her eyes darkened. "Oh." She said again, annoyed. "Oh that idiot!" she exclaimed and I looked to Max, both of us thinking the same thing about her mental health. Alice looked doubtfully at us although we hadn't said a word. "Bella didn't…she didn't change you did she? On purpose?" she asked, hesitantly.

Max and I frowned, remembering the vampire who had changed us. A vegetarian. A supposed vegetarian. She hadn't wanted to, we understood that now. It really was an accident that I stabbed myself on a compass and bled in front of her. When she discovered what she was doing, she pulled back in shock.

Miss _Penrose_. The name made me shudder internally. The pain was unbearable. Afterwards, after the pain receded and we were left, dead and cold, she told us it was so difficult to resist. Because we smelled so lovely and there were two of us, so much blood that it was mouth-watering. She caught me first, Max second so there was a short time between when I woke up, and he did. In that time I'd ripped off her head and shoved a dozen pencils through her chest. Of course, I didn't know how to kill a vampire. Only what I'd heard in movies. And pencils seemed like a perfectly reasonable substitute for a wooden stake. More the better.

We shook our heads though, in response to Alice's question. "We were changed by a vampire in Sydney. Bella found us and offered us a place with them. Vee and Andrew are our parents." My voice was weak and trembling from the memories. Max put an arm around me in comfort. Alice frowned in pity and turned to Chen.

"Vampire in Northern Korea. Wanted some company and found me when I was trying to save my sister. Been here since Bella found me." Chen replied, tightly. He stuck to short sentences that couldn't reveal too much. Finally she turned to Vee and Andrew.

"Yes Bella changed us." He said, flatly. Alice recoiled in shock but I didn't understand it. "We were the first ones to join her." Everyone seemed to react to Andrew's words. They all froze in shock and then pain. What did they think now? I wondered, annoyed. They always got it wrong.

"She…changed…you?" Esme said, her eyes wider than the rest. She seemed stunned.

Vee nodded. "A bear was about to finish us off by a river in Alaska. Bella couldn't save us in time." She explained and the family seemed to breathe again. I noticed it and felt my face twist in outrage. How dare they!

"You thought she changed them for company didn't you?" I whispered, furious. Alice nodded shamefully.

"Yes. Bella never thought of her own changing as a sacrifice and I thought that maybe she…" she trailed off. I shook my head at her.

"Bella would never do something like that." Chen said his voice sure. "And if you are through doubting her, we should leave." Before they could say anything, we were gone.

**You know the drill. **

**R and R folks, R and R**

**Tress.**

**\/**


	16. Author's Note

Okay, Before I post the now 17th Chapter of Too late for sorry, it is time for an ultimatum that will shape the face of history.

Buildings will crumble…

Lives will be changed…

The earth will shake under the profound decision that YOU have to make…

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Should Jacob return?

Still wondering, I've only got a few reviews that express your opinion and I need MORE!

Please review with your thoughts OR, better yet, go to my profile and you see the funny looking thingy at the top? Click on it and vote at my Poll as to whether he should make an appearance.

Pretty, pretty please, with ice cream and chocolate and cherries and sugar and sprinkles and (in the words of one of my reviewers…you know who you are…) a shirtless Edward on top?

PLEEEEASE?

This will shape the very foundations of the story…

And YOU have to decide!!!!

Que curtain close…dramatic 'dun, dun, duuuuuun'.

And that's a wrap folks!


	17. The Meadow

**I was debating putting this up later but I just went…what the hell! So here you are my adoring fans…*cue coughing, silence and slight cricket chirping in the back ground*…oh whatever!**

**You can't guess what's going to happen. You really, really, can't. **

**Promise. **

**It'll make you go 'OH SH*T!' and then laugh. Really. Hard. **

**Because it's so ridiculous. **

**And because you know it's ridiculous.**

**And because you can take comfort in the fact that Edward didn't get although you did. **

**And because Edward is a very stupid, very jealous character that I like to screw with…**

**Enjoy, my minions!  
x.o.x.o**

**Tress. Blues. **

**Chapter 16. The Meadow.**

**Bella's POV. **

Did I tell them to pack up? Yes. Did I tell them there was no way to stay here with the Cullens in town? Yes. Did I not beg them that we leave as soon as possible? Yes. Did they listen? No. Of course not. That would be much too easy.

My family is impossible. Really. You go out for an hour to make flight arrangements and they take off. I had an idea of where they went but I didn't think I was ready to see any of them yet. And I wouldn't be ready for maybe….forever? Maybe longer.

But I needed to get away from her. The empty house was not good to my head, it made it easier to let my mind get out of control. So I ran out the door again and into the forest, running so fast no one would see me, so far that I doubt Max and Jenna could know where I was.

It was freeing; a run where I could pretend that nothing was wrong. That I was still Bella Swan. That Edward still loved me. That everything was fine. I followed up a small path, further to the east than I'd been with the rest of my family. And then I stopped all of a sudden but instead of crashing down on me that I was not Bella Swan, that Edward did not love me and that everything was not fine, I was still on cloud nine because subconsciously I had driven myself back in time.

Over the last ninety years, the meadow hadn't changed a bit. Although it was moonlight that threw rainbows off my skin instead of sunlight off Edward, it still had the same perfect shape, the same yellow, white and purple flowers dotted the silky green grass. I smiled and looked down at my skin. It glowed like crystal in the perfect, unclouded moonlight and I gazed at it like I had so many years before.

I wandered around the edge of it at a human place and recognised the place where I'd seen Laurent for the last time, which sent shivers up my spine. It was always a happy ending place though. Where I'd kissed Edward, where I'd first seen Jacob as a…wolf. That made me feel sick. How had Jacob fared over the years? Did he ever love someone? Did he keep living as a wolf? Was he still alive? The joy I felt at Jacob being alive was completely irrational. Werewolves didn't like vampires. They didn't mix. But Jacob…was my friend. My best friend. I'd told him I didn't care what he was and in return, he'd chosen to stick by me and promise to be my friend, always.

Did that still apply now that I was technically dead?

There was a slight breeze and I inhaled so deep I thought my lungs might burst full of oxygen. It was cool and fresh, just like Edward's actually…I remember the day he brought me here so clearly in my mind and I remember what he'd shown me.

On a whim, I raced around the edge of the meadow in half a second just as he'd shown me and reached up into the branches of an oak. I snapped off a thick piece and balanced it in my hand, feeling dejavu wash over me as I through it hard into another tree which shuddered and groaned on impact. "As if he needed any of that…" I murmured. He hadn't needed anything. Everything was completely natural, too natural as he'd thought. Edward was like oxygen. Impossible to live without healthily. Jacob might've been my sun but I could live in darkness if I had air. I would live in darkness forever, as long as I had him.

Suddenly there were the lithe footfalls of a vampire that I barely heard, they were going so fast. I didn't think it was anyone from my coven. I ducked up into the oak tree, for leverage just in case. A tall figure stepped into the meadow and I pounced without thinking. He turned with record time but I was just slightly faster. He was on the grass in a second, my knees pinning down his arms and hands around his throat.

It was Edward. He lay beneath me with a shocked expression before looking pointedly at my position and raising an eyebrow. I was a little stunned. I hadn't been this close to him in so long…but I was across the other side of the meadow by the time he had opened his mouth, crouched and snarling. "Bella?" the one word rang out in the clearing, so soft but so clear. There was hope and sadness, elatedness and pain. I didn't understand it.

I straightened myself and kept my expression carefully blank. "Yes Edward?" I replied, flatly. His name sent a thrill through me as much as I tried not to let it.

He stood up in a flash and gazed at me with bright topaz eyes. There were dark circles around them though. I didn't like them. "I can't…how are…you're alive." He stuttered and I found the fact that he was stumbling so obviously over his words kinda funny. Here I thought it would always be me who was stumbling.

"Yes." I said, sourly. His expression darkened but I sensed it was not meant for me.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, calmly. His voice was strained though, so full of rage is was quiet. I wondered why that was. It didn't make sense.

"Victoria," I answered, softly. I was trying so hard not to let myself hope. I was trying so hard to push him from my heart but he was-he was breaking, digging, _clawing_ through the walls I'd put up and now they were fast becoming meaningless. The snarl he gave echoed around the meadow and I felt myself being lifted up by my overactive imagination. I squashed it back down to earth and buried it with facts. He left me. Remember Bella, remember.

"I'm so sorry Bella, I never-" I cut his apology short. It wasn't helping my cause.

"It wasn't your fault Edward. It never was." I said, quietly.

"I'll kill her Bella, she won't-" I cut him off again. It definitely wasn't helping. Facts Bella. Facts.

"You can't. The wolves took care of it." I said, curtly. I don't know whether it was my voice or my statement that stunned him more.

"Wolves?" he asked, tightly. I nodded and suddenly he was closer to me. Not as close as before, maybe two feet away with a look of pure hatred on his face. I pulled my shoulders back, ready to defend Jacob from whatever prejudices he had with them but suddenly he reached out and pulled me towards him, crushing me against his chest. "I'm sorry Bella. I never should've left you here, with wolves, the worst thing out there besides vampires!" But I was only half listening.

My heart felt like it would start beating again from the contact and I felt my entire self lighten with ecstasy. I'd forgotten how good it felt to be this close to him even though he was so much softer now, when I was a vampire too…but this was irrational. Completely stupid. It was…guilt! That was it! Nothing else! I convinced myself and I pulled away in a flash, although their was a second of hesitation. Pain crossed his face. "What? What's wrong?" I guess I must've looked as anguished as I felt so I wiped my face again.

"I don't think it's really appropriate for us to…to touch, like _that_." I said, quietly. Edward's arms, still around my shoulders, loosened and slipped away, reluctantly. "I'm sure your distractions wouldn't appreciate it." I said, a little coldly. His face looked surprised before it split into a grin and he laughed.

Laughed. Like it was funny that I was broken and beaten on the inside at mentioning his reasons for leaving. I turned away and began to walk, at a human pace out of the meadow when suddenly his hand grabbed mine and he twirled me back into the stony circle of his arms. I wanted to stay there. I wanted to stay right there, looking up into his eyes forever but I couldn't. It wasn't sensible. And right now, sense was the only thing keeping me from kissing his perfect lips with enough force to part continents.

Apparently, though, sense wasn't enough for Edward because his lips crashed down on mine anyway. It was like nothing had changed. Like I was still human and stupid and reckless, as my hands travelled up into his hair and my mouth moved as eagerly as his did. His lips were so warm now, so soft…He was torturing me slowly and painfully but right then I was in bliss. Which is why it needed to stop, I reminded myself as I pushed him away. His face was twisted in surprise and pain. "Edward it isn't…logical for you to act like that out of guilt. Don't try and make things up to me because you feel sorry for me." I said, a little breathless. "You don't owe me anything…like I said, it isn't your fault."

But I wished I would just shut up and let him kiss me again. He chuckled again, his face split into that crooked grin I loved so much. "Bella," he murmured, tightening his arms around me. "Isabella Marie Swan. I'm not doing this out of guilt." Those were perfect words. Absolutely perfect to the world where he loved me. But here, in reality, they were just twisted and mutilated sounds that made no sense and caused pain. I pulled away again.

"What?" I asked, bewildered. "Edward, you can't just say that and make it true."

He chuckled only it was edged with frustration this time. "It already is. Bella I left because it was better for you to be around humans. People who were like you, who wouldn't kill you in a moment's notice. And now I hear you didn't even have a normal life!" he said, a tad angrily. "All that time I spent in agony, away from you was all to waste because first you go off with werewolves and then Victoria…" he ended with a growl before gazing down at me with an expression I could only define as love. But though my heart was desperately wishing that were true, my brain was warning me that it wasn't. It was a show. A lie. "I can only say she's lucky the wolves took her first otherwise she'd be suffering a very painful death for doing this to you." I closed my eyes as his finger stroked my cheek, so softly.

"Your distractions?" I murmured, remembering my former point. It was so hard to think with him here, right in front of me, so close…

He laughed lightly. "I'm a good liar Bella. I have to be. I needed a way for you to let me go and so…I made up the distractions. There is nothing to distract me from you, not then, not now, not ever." I opened my eyes and suddenly I felt angry. Angry at his family for letting him leave like that. Angry at his moronic idea of what humanity should be. Angry at Edward for even considering I'd be better off without him.

I shoved him away with all my vampiric strength and flew across the meadow. I turned to him, fuming. "You…left…me…to…be…HUMAN?!?" I screeched, furious. Edward looked nervous for the first time I'd ever known him.

"I thought it was better for you-" he began. I groaned, loudly. The one time he was selfish and he thought it was the right thing…ugh.

"Better for me? That's all you care about! What you THINK is better for me! It wasn't better! I went through hell whenever someone said your _name_ for crying out loud!" he winced. "The one time you should've listened to me! Listened to what I KNEW was better for me, you had to go and try to make me better when I was already fine!" I ranted, my eyes narrowed to slits. The range of emotions electrified my words, sending completely new meaning through them. "It's just too late to try and make that better Edward! Way, way too late!"

Edward's face screwed up in pain, so heartbreaking I almost forgave him. But I just couldn't overlook this. Not yet at least. "I am sorry Bella. I tried so hard to do what was best but in the end…" he trailed off and I growled softly.

"That's my point. It never made any difference." I said, sourly. Victoria still bit me. I still became a vampire. And I didn't have him to help me through it. I was alone during one of the worst parts of my life.

"Is there anything I can do?" he begged, stepping closer until he was only a few feet away again. The moon lit up our skin and it was painfully clear how beautiful he was. I wondered what it was like seeing me in the moonlight for him. I didn't want to forgive him. I really didn't, not yet. But maybe… "Please Bella, is there anything I can do to make this right again?" There was that word again. Right. Wrong and Right and yet he always chose wrong, believing it to be its partner.

I starting to feel the rage bubble up again so I decided that I was not going to forgive him while he was still being like this. "No." I said, childishly turning away. I could feel him stiffen behind me.

"Is there- is there someone else?" he asked, ending with a slight snarl. Never in my entire immortal life did I ever do anything as stupid as I did right then. I turned around, feeling angry and hurt and spiteful and looked him right in the eye.

"Yes. The other vampire you saw at school today. Chen."

Shit.

**Ooooooh….clifffffffiiiiiie! **

**I might put my next chapter in Edward's perspective so you can get a good feel about how those words affected him….bwahahahahaha**

**And so my masterful plan is revealed!  
DO you like it? DO you hate it? Remember guys, I'm nothing but an ExB shipper, do not worry. I thought about it for a while and decided what the hell…let's torment Edward for a while!**

**R and R**

**Tress.**

**P.S. Thanks for your thoughts on Jacob's return. The poll will be closing after Christmas so get in now and vote free! **

**P.S.S. Right now, I'm leaning towards the negative 'Do not, I repeat do NOT, put Jacob back in. DO NOT DO IT TRESS!' side but hey, I can be swayed…as can my poll….you decide. **


	18. Author's Note Take Two

**Hello, my devoted if not somewhat peeved readers, **

**I'm sorry but I'll be in Sydney NSW for the next two weeks and sadly that means NO UPDATES! Really sorry I didn't update beforehand but I just need to get Edward's POV of the Meadow sorted and then I can publish. It sucks because Bella's was easy to do (pain, spite, anger, love, confusion) and Edward is…different. I'm trying to get the right balance before I publish because I don't want to give out a crappy one. I think this story deserves good EPOVs only. **

**And therefore my minions, I am grievous to say that I cannot update for the next two weeks, until roughly the twenty fifth. **

**Thankyou for understanding. **

**x.o.x.o**

**Tress Blues, your ever humble writer. **


	19. Breakeven

**I'm baaaaaaaack! Guys, I'm back from SYDNEY! I am soooooo tan from all my days on the beach with the cousins and I've got enough dirty laundry for an army! But the best news why I'm back is because I'm regenerated and can therefore write again. YAY!!!**

**I'm very sorry that it's been so long since I've updated but due to computer custody battles between my sister (who happens to be a fan…imagine that!) and I, things have been strenuous and I can't write nor publish on such tenseness. Not to mention the fact that she tried to fix the internet connection herself and ended up crashing our computer for a week...**

**But on my more pressing news:  
**

**How'd you like the last chappie? **

**Killing you, you say? **

**Hmmm, we'll have to stop that then…**

**I heard this song on the radio in Sydney and I just thought: 'wow. This is Edward's theme song for this story. It just has to be.' Anyway it's by the Script and its called Breakeven. It was never meant to be a songfic but I just couldn't resist. Hope you like it.**

**x.o.x.o**

**Tress.**

**Chapter 19. Breakeven. **

**Edward's POV**

_I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing  
Just praying to a god that I don't believe in _

_Cause I got time while she got freedom  
Cause when a heart breaks no it don't break even  
_

I was in pain. More than pain. I was in agonising, miserable, burning, ripping, torture. I would say that this was worse than my changing but it couldn't compare physically. Only emotionally. Those words coming out of her lovely mouth were like a chainsaw to the heart. "Yes. The other vampire you saw at school today. Chen." It had a name. Perfect.

I wanted nothing more than to rip him to shreds but that would just hurt her more. I'd already done so much…when was I going to get it right? Could I even get it right? I stay, she gets hurt by my kind. I leave and she gets hurt worse. What was wrong with me?

After Bella told me, her eyes widened like she'd just screwed up horribly and I felt a little offended. What did she think? I was going to go and kill him because he wasn't me? I would never do that to her. Not hurt her like that.

I thought back to the house and Bella's coven, trying to figure out which one was Chen. _Her_ Chen. I thought about the Asian vampire who had been thinking such protective thoughts about Bella. I guess I knew why now, although I hadn't wanted to kill him when I first saw him. Even with his overbearing thoughts.

_  
Her best days will be some of my worst  
She finally met a man that's gonna put her first  
_

_While I'm wide awake she's no trouble sleeping  
Cause when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven  
_

I nodded to her and took a deep breath although it was useless. I looked down, trying to submerge the urge to take her in my arms again (so sweet a memory to relive in those few moments before she told me about…_him_) and nodded once more. "I see." My voice was flat and cold. I hoped she realised the anger wasn't directed at her. It was all for _him._ It was perfectly reasonable for her to have moved. I had hoped she wouldn't, selfishly. I had prayed she would, for her sake. It was what I had wanted, for her to be loved by someone who could love her back. And even now, when _I _could be that man, I couldn't do it because the job had already been filled.

I looked up to her face, which was still shocked at her own words and I memorised it, comparing her to my memories. Her hair was longer but still such a dark soft colour, with those small touches of red and light brown…Her eyes were the same colour as my own and I somewhat missed the dark brown she had before. I realised with some remorse that she would never blush again either, as her skin glowed in the moonlight. It was alabaster pale, just like mine but standing there, still in the dark jeans from school and a simple blue shirt, she looked so graceful, even among vampires that I couldn't bring myself to miss the human Bella. Because she was still so much the same. She deserved whoever she chose because obviously, she knew what was best for her. Even though she had decided that it might not have been me.

_  
What am I suppose to do when the best part of me was always you  
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and your ok  
I'm falling to pieces  
I'm falling to pieces  
_

I straightened suddenly and nodded to her again. "My apologies then Isabella." I said, still flat. I couldn't let her know how much it was killing me to let this beautiful creature out of my sight. So without anything further, I turned and sped away out of our meadow and through the trees. I felt the monster inside me growl with the pain I was enduring. It was so strange. Like my heart was trying to rip itself out of my chest. Similar to the pain I'd felt over the last ninety years, but so much stronger. I felt like I was losing my humanity to the images running through my head.

_Bella smiling at him…_

_Hugging him…_

_Kissing him…_

I felt sick at the thought of her touching him. Of him touching _her_. The monster snarled and I knew that was exactly what was happening. I was losing my humanity, my conscience, my compassion to this ripping in my chest and I wished for all the world, that I could sleep. That I could steal a few moments when Bella was still mine. I snarled into the wind rushing past me. I couldn't lose myself though. It wouldn't be fair, not to me, not to Bella. I had screwed up so much as that little vampire, Jenna had showed me in her mind. Couldn't I do this one thing for her? I wouldn't want her to think she had my loss of control on her conscience although it would never be her fault. I struggled with myself, keeping myself clear of the town, travelling straight back home.

_  
They say bad things happen for a reason  
But no wise words gonna stop the bleeding  
Cause she's moved on while I'm still grieving  
Cause when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven  
_

I reached the house in record time, steering clear of the party who was leaving. I didn't have that much self control. I found the rest of my family inside, looking ashamedly at each other. **How could we have…**

**It was reasonable! I don't see why everyone's so choked up about it…**

**How could we doubt her? After everything…**

**We killed her didn't we?**

**I missed her so much…**

Their thoughts were disjointed with guilt although all of their heads snapped at my sudden arrival. I didn't stay long. I just ran up the stairs and into my room where I could think alone. Or somewhat alone at least. There was a knock at my door and Alice's thoughts drifted to me. I growled at the very thought I'd had a few days ago. How could we have doubted her like that? Bella would never hurt anyone else purposely. It was simply impossible.

**Edward? **She misinterpreted my growl and flitted into my room with an expression of disgrace on her face. "I'm sorry! I just thought that since she took her own changing so lightly that maybe she wouldn't think of it as a bad thing. I was so wrong." Alice rambled, empty sobs ripping from her chest. I could sense Jasper's torn feeling below. She'd asked him to leave her for a few moments but her cries were calling to him. He had more control than I would've, because I could sympathize. If Bella was hurt, I would try to help. No matter what she'd told me. It was exactly what I'd done to her and look how that turned out? He was right to stay down stairs.

"It's alright Alice. I don't blame you." I said, my voice still dead. Alice's face turned surprised and she suddenly understood.

"You saw her in the meadow didn't you?" she asked softly. I nodded, replaying the vision she'd had of us in my head. I knew it was going to happen. Minutes after our conference with Bella's coven, Alice had her vision but by that time it was too late, I was already in the meadow.

_  
What am I suppose to do when the best part of me was always you  
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and your ok  
I'm falling to pieces  
I'm falling to pieces  
One still in love while the other ones leaving  
Cause when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven  
_

"How are we going to get her back?" Alice asked, her eyebrows furrowing. I shook my head.

"She's happy now Alice. We can't take that from her." I replied, vehemently opposed to upsetting Bella's life again. Alice's face turned outraged.

"Why? You know she'll be happier here!" she cried, her eyes wide. I shook my head again, this time angry.

"I'm through playing god with her life Alice. She's an adult. She can make her own decisions." The words were empty. Everything inside me was snapping and ripping and crumbling to pieces. Nothing could matter now that Bella wasn't mine. Alice growled.

"She keeps making the wrong ones!" she whined, frustrated. I smiled sadly and Alice gave me a stern, outraged look. "You are not giving up are you?" she whispered, horrified.

"She's an adult." I repeated, this time frustrated. Alice didn't want to let go of Bella and it was a selfish thing to do. To bar Bella from happiness so she could be happy herself.

"But Edward she doesn't know what she wants! Her future, it's…" I saw what her words drifted off as. Futures of blurred figures, vampire and human, what could have been as a memory, what can be as a vision…a particular one looked temptingly at me, of a Bella that chose me, an Edward that never left…I snarled.

"Don't Alice." I snapped at her and she gave me an annoyed look before flitting away like the pixie she looked like.

The door to my room drifted closed and I lay on the black leather couch, thinking of happier times. Times that could never be had ever again now that Bella was no longer here. I growled into the empty room, trying, profusely to drown out the voices in my head. "Thoughts," I said aloud, in a bare whisper. "Distractions…" I almost laughed at the irony life (or in my case death) had dealt me. I ran away from the love of my eternal life with the excuse that I had other distractions that needed attention and now that the excuse had failed me and my life had fallen to pieces, I truly was looking for distractions needing attention.

What a mess. Sighing with deep discontent, I thought back to the vampire that now carried Bella's heart. Beating or not, in another life I would have killed for such a prized possession…the heart of an angel. I didn't wonder how they'd fallen in love…that much would have been ridiculously painful and easy. Bella naturally drew people in with her soft perfection and selfless person. It was difficult to miss such a creature.

_  
You got his heart and my heart and none of the pain  
You took your suitcase, I took the blame.  
Now I'm trying make sense of what little remains  
Cause you left me with no love, no love to my name.  
_

Instead, I wondered, naturally with my selfish mind, who I was now. How I could describe myself within the crowded corners of my mind. Usually, my self image depicted someone in love with Bella, someone with a family, someone without a pulse. Usually however, my love would always be the most defining characteristic. Now that it was gone, the small pinpoints of my family, however bright they were seemed dwarfed by the dark gaping hole Bella had left. I glared downwards. My dead white hands were no longer a tiny prick of light: they mangled the edges of the dark hole, a place so painful and harsh that it had no colour or name to it. Heart break was not adequate enough. Death had already happened…

I flinched slightly.

Had she felt this way when I left? Had she felt this hole? Had she felt dead? She was still eighteen, eternally eighteen, so she'd been changed soon after I left. How long had she been with her Chen?

Better yet, how had she moved on if she **had** felt this pain?

_  
I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing  
Just praying to a god that I don't believe in  
Cause I got time while she got freedom  
Cause when a heart breaks no it don't break even  
_

I looked skywards, begging the unseen, unheard, obviously bored, forces that were messing with my life, begging them to stop now and leave me in peace. But they must've felt my disbelief, my scepticism because suddenly a crack of thunder echoed off the mountains as if to say, 'Sorry Edward, you made your bed, go lie in it.'

The questions whirled emptily off my head. Questions aplenty but no answers.

Another crack of thunder.

Next, I thought of what was to be done. I couldn't kill him obviously (although a small smile curled my lips at the thought) so I would have to endure them. For Bella's sake. Carlisle had made it quite clear that no matter what happened, he expected us to stay in Forks as his medical credit was by far, overstretched as it is. He couldn't afford to transfer again and expect people to stay quiet.

Of course, I knew he would make an exception but what trouble it would make for us all. I would endure it as I had once endured Bella's hauntingly beautiful smell. Painfully but silently.

Although that hadn't worked out as well as I had once hoped either.

School would have to be taken in small doses, I decided. Hopefully without direct contact to either of the happy couple and a cover story must be created, at least for the sake of Forks' inhabitants. The Volturi wouldn't appreciate such a large group raising questions and it was best not to include a visit in the near future.

Cousins perhaps?

I tried to keep my attention based on this new cover story. But my heart dragged me back to the pain every time. Sooner or later, I wasn't quite sure which, I gave up trying to resist and let go of everything.

I laughed bitterly once more at my cowardice, my weakness before letting the pain wash everything into a numb colourless blur, my last thought being, _She will never be mine, I'll always be hers._

_What am I gonna do when the best part of me was always you  
What am I suppose to say when I'm all choked up and your ok  
I'm falling to pieces  
I'm falling to pieces_

And truer words were never spoken.

_  
One still in love while the other ones leaving  
Cause when a heart breaks no it don't breakeven_

**Are you glad you waited? If you have any bugs with this chapter, please tell me, I crave input like a moth to a flame…okay writing in Edward's perspective puts me in a poetic mood, so sue me!**

**I apologise profusely for the unwarranted length of wait you had to withstand, thanking and praising you for your wonderful, tender patience with my insanity ridden mind and hope with a heavy, remorseful heart that you continue reading and observing my most haphazardly created story…**

…

**Yep, still in a poetic mood. **

**Xoxo**

**Tress.**


	20. Bella the Almost Angel

**This is ridiculously over due but if any of you are from Australia, you might understand me when I use my next excuse:**

**Over the past month, I have been writing non stop until my little fingers go see through to the bone, to complete an entry for a competition that we in the West of the Land Down Under like to call the Tim Winton's Young Writers Award. This is a highly sort after, highly coveted award that looks great on university applications and is a really great start for a writers' career. **

**I've been trying to write an entry for years now and since the dead line is May thirtieth, I've tried increasingly hard to make it the best yet. And that means I made sacrifices such as fanfiction and even turning down some of my friends offers to go out. **

**I'm sorry that it's hindered my update rate but I keep feeling like this is something I need to do, not only for my future but just to prove I can do it. **

**Please, please, forgive me but it's been a personal thing and I hope you can find it in your hearts to reinstate me as a favourite story, if not a favourite author. **

**X.o.x.o**

**Tress Blues.**

**P.S. I thought you might like to see how Bella is viewed through the eyes of her best friend: No not Jacob; her vampiric Jacob, Chen.**

**Chapter 20. Bella the Almost Angel.**

**Chen's POV**

"Chen?" Bella whispered through my door. I'd gotten back only minutes before and my vision was still tinged in red. We'd just met the vampires who had single handedly fucked up Bella. Bella the one who took me in, Bella the most fundamentally _good_ vampire in the world, Bella the almost angel. The one who did not deserve any of it.

It was so difficult not to loose it during the _meeting. _I wanted to avenge the heartache they put my best friend through but that wouldn't help. I was a little more protective of Bella than others. I knew what it was like to be broken, even though I'd inflicted the pain on myself and she'd had it done _to_ her. Vee and Andrew, Jenna and Max…they were together. Maybe not in the same relationship title but they were together in immortality because they had some kind of human connection remaining between them. Bella and me…we had no one but each other, two fugitives from connections.

And now, she had connection with her human life again: these monsters. But Bella was so desperate to save others and herself from pain that she wouldn't deal with any of it. Personally, I liked this plan of action because I could not stand the Cullens. Someone who hurt her so terribly was no longer worthy of any kind of respect in my opinion and I'd barely managed to hold the fury I had for the Cullens in.

But we all slip up now and then.

"Come in." I said and Bella slipped into the room, a horrified look on her face. It sent me flying off the couch immediately and I sat her down on the faux bed. I didn't use it for anything more than meditation or thinking. It felt nice to have something other than a canvas mat to sleep on, as I had had in my old life. "Bella, what's wrong?"

She looked at me with round, terrified gold eyes. "Chen I did something really bad." She whispered. Vampiric ears would've had trouble catching it.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and hugged her. "What's wrong Bells? It can't be too bad, you're practically a saint at heart." I joked but she didn't laugh. It worried me further because Bella always laughed at any of my cruddy jokes. "Really, though what's wrong?"

She let out a deep breath and I could smell the scent of freesias in the air. Delicate and pure and pretty…like Bella actually. "Chen, I've completely ruined everything."

I sighed and hugged her again. "You haven't Bella, relax." Occasionally, Bella worked herself into a frenzy that she'd ruined someone's life or messed something up but it never turned out to be anything bad. She simply tended to think the worst about herself.

"No, no." she gave a short, desperate laugh. "Really, I've single handedly ruined everything."

I frowned. This wasn't like Bella. Not the Bella I knew anyway. "Isabella- hey why d'you do that?" I asked, distracted. She flinched when I said her full name.

"No reason." She replied, evasively, flicking her hair back over her shoulders.

I eyed her. "Isabella." Flinch. "Isabella." Flinch. "Isabella Marie Swan." Flinch-

"Stop that!" she snapped, looking paler than usual. If that were possible.

I stopped and eyed her again, trying to determine what was off about her today. The day had already left us and the moon was shining through the window, lighting up the alabaster of her face and turning the gold of her eyes silver. Bella was beautiful, as all vampires should be and it made me sad that she never found anyone who thought of her that way. Never found anyone to appreciate her, to love her…unless you count that total prick Edward. "Bella, please, what's wrong?" I asked calmly.

Bella fiddled with the edge of my green-as-grass bedspread before sighing and looking anywhere but in my eye. "Okay, Chen, before I tell you, can you promise you won't completely verbally murder me?" she asked, weakly. I nodded, cautiously. "Well, I- I found out you guys weren't here when I came back," she cast angry eyes at me. "and I guessed where you went. So I took a run. And I went back to the meadow."

"The meadow?"

"The meadow." At my continuous blank look, she sighed, impatient. "**THE** meadow. You know, the one I told you about. _The_ meadow." It clicked into place and I closed my eyes, resigned. The meadow was a Cullen place. The one that held the most feeling, the most memories for Bella, the one that would be the most painful to visit…the meadow was to Bella, what the cave I'd hidden myself in was for me.

"Crap."

"Yeah. It brought everything up. All the memories, all the pain…" she took a shaky breath. "But I went there and…he was there." I let out an involuntary growl. I shouldn't have let him out the door of their house. "It was fine Chen," Bella reassured me. "Really. The only thing was that…he told me why he left."

"There was no excuse Bella." I said quickly. "There's no excuse for what he, for what they did to you! They ruined your life Bells, there is no justice or reason for it!" It'd be just like Bella to blame herself or take an excuse for honesty. She was too naïve and Edward must have known that. Must've used that.

But "Chen, he left to protect me." was all she whispered and I turned to her in shock.

"Protect you?" I spat, suddenly viciously angry.

"Yes, he thought without him there, I would be safer from his world. There were no distractions. He said he still loved me." Bella's wind chime voice was faint in my ears.

"Fat load of good that did you." I snarled although I could see his reasoning. I could see how, in desperation, he might try something so stupid and reckless to save the love of his life…_ugh_, I thought. I sounded like Vee.

Bella smiled weakly. "That's what I told him, essentially. But…then he asked if there was anything he could do to make it right and I told him no." Pride soared in my chest. There was the Bella I'd been trying to pull out for all these years. Occasionally you saw parts of her, but never the whole person. This Bella would stand up for herself and wouldn't take anyone's shit.

"Damn straight Bells." I agreed and suddenly her face went wary.

"There was something else."

"What?" I asked, almost amused. Bella couldn't have done anything bad. 'Bella the almost angel' couldn't have done anything terrible.

"He asked me if there was anyone else. Someone that had taken his place." She didn't look me in the eye.

"And?" I finally probed.

"I said yes."

"What!? Bella what were you thinking?" I hissed, jumping up from the couch and pacing to the window. How on earth could she pull this one off? Assuming that Vee, Andrew, Jenna and Max could convince her to stay in Forks, how were we going to make the Cullens believe Bella the almost angel had a partner, who didn't actually exist?

Bella bit her lip and curled her legs under herself. "I wasn't thinking," she sounded horrified at what she'd done. "I was just so angry. I just…I just wanted to make him hurt too."

I sighed and sat back with Bella on the couch. We'd have to leave then. Now, immediately, before anyone found out… "Let's go tell the others, we'll be gone by the morning, we'll sort the paper work out over the phone." Bella stared at the ground as I leaned back on the bed. "Don't worry so much Bells. The rest won't mind too much, we'll head off for a year abroad or something. You know, go skiing in the Himalayas or something." I grinned at the thought of Jenna and Max in the snow.

"Chen, there's something else." I didn't hear her, I was too busy thinking of the possibilities a year abroad could bring.

"Or we could hide out in the Amazon, that'd be good, wait it out there, enjoy the sun."

"Chen,"

"Do you think Australia would be too hard on Jenna and Max? Cause I reckon we could head out into one of the deserts and just live without the people. Kangaroos taste kinda nice."

"Chen, I told Edward you were my partner."

I heard that.

I turned my head so slowly; I might've been a statue for each position. Shock sunk in, every inch of my skin was numbed down. I blinked at Bella, then blinked again. And then, "WHAT?!"

Bella winced and covered her face with her hands as I flew upwards and hovered over her. Bella did lots of things on impulse. Some were good, some not so good but she'd never done anything so…so…stupid. "Chen, I didn't mean to, it just-"

"Came out?" I supplied, menacingly. She cringed. "_Bella, what were you thinking!?!?!?_"

"I wasn't!" she repeated, weakly protesting. I growled and ran a hand over my head. How could she have done this? We weren't partners, we weren't even close, we were friends! Logically, one side of me commanded me to think about it: _She couldn't say Andrew because he's already so close with Vee and Max was too young, not to mention the fact that either of the girls were out of the options indefinitely…think Chen, you were the last one! _

The other, less rational side of me growled at that voice and told it to shut up. "We'll have to leave immediately, they'll find out otherwise, it'll be impossible to fake-"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." She stood up, sounding a bit more sure of herself. I cast angry slitted eyes at her. Not the time to put on the leader hat Bella…"It's going to be difficult to come up with a place to live this late in the year, with enough cover at least to hide us and Vee and Andrew have already decided to try and get Jenna and Max into a college. We can't do that unless we have credentials and the kids are so set on going to college. If we hide out for a few years somewhere else it's still going to be vaguely impossible to find somewhere with enough rain and enough of a reputation to get them into a good school." Bella paused, biting her lip nervously.

"No." I said, shocked as it fell into place. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Please Chen, just for a year and then it can all go back to normal, we'll move away to Alaska or somewhere, we'll be fine! But just for this year, could you please, just try to…_you know_." She begged, pressing her hands together unconsciously.

"Bella," I groaned. "You're asking me to pretend, under the noses of a mind reader, a psychic and an empath, to be your boyfriend…_and get away with it_?" This was going to be impossible.

Bella winced. "Well when you put it that way it sounds pretty bad but anything sounds bad when you say it like that!"

"Bella this is impossible! No, you listen," I said when she made to interrupt. "The psychic is going to see us doing this or at least see us apart when we go to college in the future-"

"She won't see this, its spur of the moment. And besides, Alice will simply think we fell apart." She waved her hand dismissively.

"_He_'s going to be able to read my mind, if not yours _and_ the empath is going to be able to tell how we feel about each other!" I finished, my eyes alight, challenging her to try and think of a solution.

"Not," she began, quietly. "If I'm careful."

"Excuse me?"

"Chen, power of rejection, remember?" she said, playfully pointing to herself and slapping my shoulder. "I just have to concentrate on keeping Edward," Bella winced and my fingers formed talons. "and Jasper's powers at bay. If they can't feel it or hear it, nothing can go wrong."

"So what?" I laughed, dryly. "Your going to concentrate twenty four seven on not letting them get to me? What about everyone else huh?"

Bella smiled a little. "I won't be trying to keep them away from just you, I'll just neutralize their powers in general when they're around us. Besides, it isn't that hard. I neutralize them away from me all the time, I'll just have to expand it a little further." She explained, a little smug.

I groaned and flopped onto the bed. "This will never work." I stated, matter-of-factly.

"Yes it will." She determined, carefully. "I just have to be careful about it. But," she paused again and I heard her shift onto the pillows beside me. "Will you do it? For me?"

I rolled over and stared at her. She looked fearful and determined and sad and happy all at the same time. Maybe it was a good thing she was going to neutralize the empath. I'd hate to be feeling her emotions. I sighed though. I couldn't deny Bella anything. She'd done so much for me. "Of course I will Bella. I owe you big time."

She grinned and her entire face lit up at the prospect of making the kids happy, even though it would cause her so much pain. I couldn't help but marvel at how inspiringly _good _she was. Bella the Almost Angel, indeed.

**Hope you like it, **

**Please review, **

**Tress.**


	21. Sneaky Peeky

**Authors Note (cue the throwing of rotten tomatoes)**

**Boy you guys must be really sick of these by now huh?**

**I apologise profusely for my erratic updating. Or lack thereof.**

**I'm getting better though, I swear! **

**Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a gecko in my eye, I really am devoting myself to only two stories: if you have looked on my profile (if you do you get a cookie…course you can't eat it. Or smell it. Or see it really because it's invisible…you know what, never mind), you'd notice that I've added a 'Stories to Come' area.**

**I am currently working on **

**1: Too Late For Sorry (of which has reached 22 chapters counting this one ******** ) and **

**2: The Broken Doll (my first of what I hope to be many Imprintus Resistus Imprint Stories…blame my sister for the title)**

**TBD has actually got about nine (very long) chapters and my newest TLFS chapter is coming along nicely. But I've decided that if I'm lazy and don't want to do something that week, while you are perfectly liable to hunt me down and kill me with pitchforks, I won't whine about how crappy my life is and try to get out of it.**

**I'm curbing my habit cold turkey. ******

**Sorry that you will have to wait a few days for Chapter 22 but please be patient and I hope to god that I haven't completely lost your interest (I've been looking at my 'Story Traffic' and HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP PEOPLE! You guys are awesome!).**

**As proof that I haven't actually been moseying around doing nothing here is an excerpt from my prologue for The Broken Doll, followed by an excerpt from Chapter 22.**

I didn't think it would come to this. Really, I didn't. I never, ever imagined myself here of all places. But I was, and as I looked into the eyes of my would-be killer, I had to accept the facts for the last time. I loved him. I was loved. I was sorry. I didn't want to die after all. And it wasn't my fault. It never was.

It's kinda sad that I only realised this small but so significant a fact in the hour of my death. What happened was an accident. Horrible, life shattering but an accident. Maybe that's why I accepted it now. Because there was nothing left to do but accept.

Is that what happens at the end of your life? It doesn't matter about the cars you own or the money you collect or the things you buy. In the end, it isn't about what you have. It ends with what you've done. It ends with the truth.

So I looked into the eyes of my would-be killer and smiled, because I knew the truth. "I love you." I whispered, to wherever he was and listened to the _crack!_ as I died.

**Tempting no?**

**And now from Chapter 22 of Too Late For Sorry, a Twilight fanfic from the chaotic mind from Tress Blues:**

I switched on my power at that point. Just in case Chen was thinking un-boyfriend-ish thoughts, I sought out Edward's gift first. Like tiny lights among the darkness, the three vampiric gifts shone out to me. I stopped the first with little difficulty and then shut off the second, the third dancing out of reach before I remembered that Alice's gift was one of the future and of the body not the mind.

I watched their faces turn shocked and I felt the lights try and feel through my block but it was impenetrable. Finally, Edward turned to me, seemingly able to guess what I was doing. He looked more shocked than the rest of them and the bruises under his eyes were even darker than usual. I felt a twinge of regret and was immediately grateful I'd numbed Jasper's ability. Jasper followed his gaze and I remained stone faced as he studied me before the bell rang again and I disappeared into the crowd, feeling all five stares on my back as I walked.

**See? I'm doing work! Pinky Promise!  
That's all for now, **

**X.o.X.o**

**Tress Blues.**


	22. Two Sisters

**I've had a few people ask me to keep my AN's to an absolute minimum and I can only say I'll try. The reason I've been neglecting TLFS is because of my other ff, The Broken Doll, which is receiving an upsetting number of reviews when I think about all the hard work that went into it. Anyhoo.**

**Here is a nice long chapter for all you nice, kind reviewers and readers who have stuck by me, despite my chaotic updating regime. If you have any specifications or thing's you'd like to see, by all means, review and ask me because while I have a plan in my head…well, the journey to the destination is always more fun ;)**

Chapter 22. My Two Sisters

Life sucks.

That's it, end of discussion, it just _does_. Although technically, I'm not alive, it still sucks. Hard.

"Bella, come on, we need to get to school." Someone called. I barely registered it for you see, I was hiding. Hiding was good, hiding made sense. Hiding meant I'd never have to pretend with Chen and I'd never have to talk to Edward and I'd never have to see anyone ever again. "Bella, come on!" Vee grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the attic, landing lightly on both high heeled feet. I felt limply but admittedly gracefully beside her.

"I don't want to go to school, I'm sick." I invented wildly and Vee rolled her eyes.

"Vampires don't get sick so don't try it missy, we're going to school whether you like it or not." She snapped at me.

"Please Vee? Do you know how weird this is going to be? I haven't seen them ninety years and now I'm meant to have a partner! I can't do it!" I shrieked a few decibels louder than usual. Vee winced and ran her hand through my hair, calming me down.

"Shhh, relax, okay, deep breaths. Now look, you can either hide in the attic and scare the new tenants when we leave like a 'real' vampire," I rolled my eyes at the air quotes around real. Max and Jenna were constantly questioning us during the first few years, about why we didn't go around scaring the crap outta people like 'real' vampires. It sorta stuck. "Or you can come and be a woman and face your fears."

I looked at her thoughtful. "These new tenants-"

"Down. Now." She hissed and I walked, sullenly down the staircase to see everyone already piled in the car and ready to go. Jenna and Max hadn't stopped laughing when I told them about our plan. Vee thought it was a bad idea and Andrew…he tended to side with Vee on everything so he was no help. However, they could understand why I'd said what I had even if I hadn't meant it and were going to make the best effort they could. Max chortled as I stepped into the passenger seat. Max and Jenna were sitting together in one seat and Vee was sitting behind with Andrew. Chen smirked in the drivers seat.

"Nice of you to join us sweetie," he said, mockingly and I snarled at him.

"Try me Chen, go on, I dare you." I snapped, moodily while my family burst into giggles. "Guys! It isn't funny!" I whined but no one listened as we sped down the highway and into the parking lot. Before we got out I turned to face the little buggers.

"You lot had better be on your best behaviour today. It got out of hand yesterday and there will be no relapses." I was referring to the so-called earthquake, which I had a feeling wasn't natural. Jenna had theory on that…she always does. I'd listened the other night when I came home as she explained it and although I didn't like the fact that I'd caused such major damage, I had to admit it was a useful skill to have.

"But Bells, it wasn't us it was you!" Max pointed out, confused and I sighed. Did they have any idea how they affected me at all?

"Yes but I want you to be relaxing if we see them, none of this tensing up. That was what triggered it yesterday; I'm pretty certain that and self preservation." I muttered, thoughtfully. I'd just control it. I'd just block out the Cullens from my family and then we'd get through this year (and then…the next) and then I'd leave and we'd wait for Jenna and Max to finish, and then off to college for all of us. I'd never have to see any of them again.

I swallowed the misery that came from the suggestion and hopped out of the car, hyper-aware of Chen's arm around my shoulders. It felt super weird so I tried to remember that Jake had done this once or twice-

_Jacob was in love with you, he said so himself. _Said the other, logical and slightly nastier side of my brain.

Yes well Chen is not. That was the difference. I fought back.

_So it _should_ feel weird then._

No. No it shouldn't.

_Make up your mind._

Ugh. I have to stop making decisions inside my own head; it wears the damn thing out. But it did the job of distracting me as we walked amongst the other students and into the school.

"Aw Bella, this is so cramping my style," Chen muttered, mirthfully and I elbowed him in the gut while saying goodbye to Max and Jenna. Andrew went to Spanish whilst Vee took off to Social Studies. He was enjoying this, I realised. Not the fact that we had to act in love but the fact that people stared at us and I squirmed under their gaze.

Just as the bell rang, they all came flooding into school. It was impossible not to recognise them; their beauty and pale faces were startling amongst the other bland figures of the students, angels amongst mortals. I tried not to stare back, thanking god I didn't blush anymore, as they stared at me. Chen smirked and kissed my cheek, sweetly before taking off for AP Mathematics, his eyes dancing with mischief. Oh, he was going to cop it later.

I switched on my power at that point. Just in case Chen was thinking un-boyfriend-ish thoughts, I sought out Edward's gift first. Like tiny lights among the darkness, the three vampiric gifts shone out to me. I stopped the first with little difficulty and then shut off the second, the third dancing out of reach before I remembered that Alice's gift was one of the future and of the body not the mind. I concentrated more and it dimmed, not shut off but not completely functional.

I watched their faces turn shocked and I felt the lights try and feel through my block but it was impenetrable. Finally, Edward turned to me, seemingly able to guess what I was doing. He looked more shocked than the rest of them and the bruises under his eyes were even darker than usual. I felt a twinge of regret and was immediately grateful I'd numbed Jasper's ability. Jasper followed his gaze and I remained stone faced as he studied me before the bell rang again and I disappeared into the crowd, feeling all five stares on my back as I walked.

---

"This is torture." I moaned to Chen as lunch rolled around. Vampires were meant to think of time as quick flashes; a brief blink in the eye of eternity but today was as long as an eternity: or at least it felt like it. Chen had an arm around my waist and snorted quietly.

"Bella, I'm getting glares from almost every guy in this room for taking away the only single female of our family and this is torture for you?" he muttered, amused. I rolled my eyes as we sat down, barely registering what was on my plate. I could feel all the scents of human washing around me but rejection worked on vampires as well as it worked on humans. I was numb to the flavours of blood.

"Shut up, Dracula." I hissed at him, smiling. The Cullens took a place at their old table, it having been cleared up and the steam pipe repaired. The principal had given us a brief talking to about earth quake procedure but thankfully no one was hurt during the incident and the repairs had been made that afternoon.

"Bella, why is the blonde glaring at me?" Jenna whispered, so softly even I barely caught it but when I looked up, I understood what she meant. Rosalie was glaring at Jenna with a hundred times the venom she used on me. I felt a tiny bit miffed before realising how stupid I sounded.

I frowned, trying to see what Jenna could've done wrong. "Did you say anything at the…meeting?" I asked, sitting between her and Chen; Max, Andrew and Vee opposite us. Everyone ducked their head at the mention of the only coven meeting I hadn't attended: the one they'd held without me.

"No, nothing that she wouldn't be staring at Chen or Max for." She said, sounding a little defensive. I felt protective of Jenna: she was like my daughter and my little sister mixed as one and I was close to standing and asking Rosalie what her problem was.

But I simply shrugged and whispered to her: "Rosalie gets angry about the little things, don't worry about it." And she smiled a little. We didn't eat the food; occasionally we brought drinks to our lips without taking a sip. It was all part of the show.

I took the moment to look around, map out possible exits should we need them: someone could smell too good, it may get too sunny or we might get into an argument with the Cullens. But things were pretty neutral on all levels; my coven didn't look to bothered by the blood although Max breathing less than usual and Jenna held his hand.

I was seriously reconsidering my plan of sticking around when the bell rang and I separated from my coven for Biology. As I walked, I felt someone trailing behind me and when I span around to look (before turning to the front again so quickly that to humans, it probably looked as though I hadn't moved at all) Alice Cullen was tripping lightly down the hall to me. Her face was cautious and joyful and miserable. Confusion seemed to be the main feeling of everyone at this time. But there was no denying she looked as lovely as ever; the same spiky black hair glistened on her head and the same wide golden eyes sat in her pale, pointed face.

I couldn't speed up without alerting others so I simply tried to pretend that I hadn't noticed she was there, that I didn't care when really my body was screaming at me to stop and turn around and hug her. I missed Alice so much. She was my best friend before Vee and I missed the sisterly bond we had shared before…she left. Which made me hate her too because she broke me with the rest of her family. Love and hate battled it over in my throat…neither seem to be winning as she appeared beside me. "Bella?" the first words she'd said to me in over ninety years.

Suddenly my mouth didn't want to work. "Alice," I acknowledged curtly.

"Bella, can we talk? Please?" she pleaded and her hand went for mine. I flinched away from it, remembering how painful it was after she left. It lashed at my insides again and I quivered slightly. "Bella, I never wanted to leave but Edward-"

"Edward thought it was best." I finished, emotionlessly. She stared up at me with a heart breaking expression of big golden eyes and trembling lips. A puppy dog pout, I think Vee would call it.

"Yes." She whispered. We'd stopped now and moved to the side although two of the new kids from different families _talking_ to each other were sure to draw attention no matter where we went.

"I didn't want to but he had the most claim on the matter! I could see how miserable you both would be but he wouldn't listen to it, he just kept saying the future was unpredictable, that it would change and then he asked me to stop looking and I did and-" Alice's babble came to a halt as she sucked in a deep, unnecessary breath and shuddered. I was stunned into place although only half a minute had passed since the conversation had began and we still needed to get to class. But something about the…human element of her face was enough to keep me in place. "-and I'm sorry Bella, I didn't want it to end up this way."

"But it did." I whispered, my voice unwavering and thick. "It did end up this way and I went through hell while you were away. Alice, you should have known me better, you should've listened to your logic, to our friendship! But no!" I hissed. "You listened to the man who thought he was doing right by me when really all he did was tear me to shreds! You should've been able to know that would've happened, visions or not!" I edged past her, feeling as if I would cry if I could when I reached my seat in World Studies.

Alice slithered in a few moments later followed by the teacher. "Ah now, we haven't met because of the unfortunate earth quake yesterday, but we have two new students with us today," he consulted his clipboard and I felt myself shrink, hoping that a small 'I'm here' would suffice. Alas, twas not to be. "Alice Cullen and Isabella Sparrow. Why don't you two come up here and tell us a bit about yourself?"

I stood, stiffly from the empty seat at the front and glided with Alice (who was sitting on the other side of the room) to the front of the classroom. "My name is Alice and my family and I have just moved here from Chicago. I have three adoptive brothers, two adoptive parents and-" she cast a look at me and smiled a little. "-two adoptive sisters."

Those two words made me want to sob as the love in the love/hate battle won out. This was going to cause trouble for them. A sister that never made an entry to the school? But she didn't care. She was doing it as an apology to me.

Besides, I never could stay mad at Alice for long.

I turned to the class after she finished introducing my family quickly and quietly. I saw a few people in the front row flinch when I smiled, serenely at the end, dancing back to my seat. Human instincts were good at picking out possible dangers. The teacher was bald, plump and had an annoying habit of smacking his lips while he spoke but I didn't care.

It was all I could stand not to run over to Alice and hug my long lost sister.

---

"Bella, I am really sorry," Alice was still apologizing as I walked with her after class. I smiled at her and it seemed like she'd never left for a moment.

"You're forgiven Alice." I laughed and she gave me a hesitant look. "What?"

"Well…does this mean you'll forgive Edward too?" she asked, slowly. My body tensed and I carefully removed the arm I had around her tiny waist.

"I don't think so Alice." I said, quietly. For one thing, he probably never wanted to see me again after the meadow and for another…well, even if the truth did come out (which it might now that I'd forgiven one of the Cullens), he'd be furious.

"Why not Bella?" Alice whined and pouted. But the days were her puppy-dog eyes worked on me were long over. "He's sorry! You haven't seen what the last-"

"Ninety years?" I asked as I moved toward my history classroom, quickly. I should've known Alice's meddling skills would never wane. "And whose fault is that?" I chuckled without humour and threw Alice a quick smile before entering the class.

Chen met up with me as we went to our class. "Hey beautiful." He said, kissing my forehead and making some of the other students turn and frown at us. "How's your day been?"

"Why do I feel like I'm in a bad Fawlty Towers episode?" I asked, complaining.

"Come on Bella, cheer up. We're meant to be in luuuuurve." Chen sang and grinned as we entered-

Oh no.

No.

_Hell no!_

"Chen, I thought you said we had the AP." I hissed, checking and rechecking my schedule. Why hadn't I realised it before?! How could I not!?

"We are. What's the emergency?" Chen frowned before he checked the door number and his golden eyes widened. "Shit Bella, I didn't know." He whispered back but it was no use now. With a heavy heart, Chen and I entered room 42: Biology lab.

Did I mention that it was exactly the same lab as the one I'd met Edward in? No? Hmm.

It had changed since last time I was here; the windows were wider and more tempting, the chalkboard had been exchanged for a white board and the two person benches were stretched to a more efficient three-person length. Chen and I glided in and looked at the teacher, who stammered and studied us wide eyed. He reminded me a little of Mr Banner but the hair colour was darker and he was much taller than Banner could've ever hoped to be.

"Err…Mr umm…Dracula? That's an interesting name." he said, distracted for a moment. The entire class's heads locked on to Chen for an answer. He shrugged.

"I was adopted and I didn't have a last name. System let me choose one and Dracula was it." He said, smoothly. I rolled my eyes in a quick flash only Chen could see.

"Ah hem. Of course. And Miss Sparrow…Ah yes, here we are. Now, if you'd like to take your seats over there-" he said, regaining control and directing us to the bench by the window. It was completely empty and Chen snagged the seat closest to the glass, leaving me next to him in the middle. I could only breathe a sigh of relief to see we'd be the only pair in a classroom of threes-

"Excuse my lateness, Mr Flag, I got lost on my way here." a smooth velvet voice said and I clammed up. My entire body went into lock down, I didn't breathe, I didn't open my eyes, I didn't move a muscle as I waited for the teacher's reply.

"Yes, well, apology accepted Mr err…"

Ruffling of papers.

The door closes.

Mr Flag mumbles. And then:

"Cullen. Edward Cullen sir."

My life took a nosedive.

"Mr Cullen, here we are, well you can take a place next to Miss Sparrow and Mr, err, _Dracula_." He said the name awkwardly. No. No. Please, god, don't do this to me. I haven't done anything wrong! Please don't!

I felt someone stiffly sit down next to me and I carefully opened my eyes, looking straight at my text books. The teacher began blabbering on about something or other and I couldn't focus my attention. All I could do was sit, rigidly in my seat and wait until it was all over.

I made the mistake of glancing at the Bunsen burner gas tap and saw in its shiny metal reflection that Edward was staring right at me. I glanced at Chen too in the metal and he was glaring at Edward on my other side.

So yeah, Life sucks. But I have to admit...death sucks more.

**I received a Review on my last chapter that I thought had some questions that a few of my readers have been asking me. Being the neglectful author that I am, I haven't been answering but I'll be redeeming myself (hopefully) in the near future.**

**If Bella and Chen keep this up, I won't read anymore: **_Okay, I can respect your opinion…but you'll be missing out on all the fun I get to have with the characters…bwahahahahahahaha_

**Hurry up and put Edward out of his misery: **_All in good time, young grasshoppers…_

**Please, please, please DO NOT BRING JACOB: **_Relax, I've already got a Jcentric story brewing in my head. See my profile if you need further proof!_

**Where is Alice: **_She's right above us ;)_

**Who else are you bringing in: **_That is for me to know and for you to scream "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! YOU CANNOT PUT __**THAT THING**__ IN THERE!?!?!?!?" at your computer when I update. Try to guess who it might be…_

**I love this story: **_Okay, so I know this isn't technically a question but I just have to say:  
YOU GUYS ARE SO AWESOME! VIRTUAL COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!!!!_


	23. Some Say In Ice Prt 1

**Did anyone get the connection between Mr Banner and Mr Flag? **

**No one? Well, I must say I'm rather upset…I thought I was being clever. *sniff* oh well. If you look at my Broken Doll story there is buckets of hidden meaning in that. I needed the poem at the beginning of this chapter, that's where the title comes from. Personally, I love poetry: dead serious because my mother has been forcing it down my throat since I was…well, since **_**before**_** I was born. And frankly, I'm glad she did.**

**Anyway. Hope you enjoy this chapter, I thought I should give you an EPOV for some reason. I feel so evil with the cliff-hanger I left you last time and even more with what I shall do in this chapter…Ha. It's extra, extra, EXTRA long. There's lots of apologies in it too. I'll do a BPOV afterwards to show what the hell is going on inside her brain.**

**This chapter is also dedicated to Saturday's Dawn. Her review made me smile so much when I read it and I hope she smiles at my dedication too.**

**Enjoy,**

**Xoxo**

**T de la B**

**Chapter 23. ****Some say in Ice…**

_Some say the world will end in fire,  
Some say in ice.  
From what I've tasted of desire  
I hold with those who favor fire.  
But if it had to perish twice,  
I think I know enough of hate  
To say that for destruction ice  
Is also great  
And would suffice._

- Fire and Ice, Robert Frost

**Edward's POV**

Did you know that there are over a million ways you can die? Strangulation, internal bleeding, external bleeding, drowning, electrocution, stabbing, poison, gassing, collision, guns, knives, baseball bats…there are thousands of ways to part your soul with your body.

For vampires, of course, the choices are far more limited but you can still destroy an immortal. Dismemberment and burning are the only foolproof, practical ways. But I wasn't thinking practically.

I was busy thinking about all the ways I could murder this Chen character if he _was_ human. An interesting way to pass time, to say the least.

Mr Flag passed out mundane sheets of paper I'd completed for many years and his thoughts were slow, unattractive and revolving around some strange woman named Sheila. **I wonder if it was the hair…yes, probably. I knew I should've gotten the plugs…**

Alice's however, were gloating. She was in English at the moment, barely listening to the teacher as he described William Blake's Tyger. **She's back! She's **_**back**_**, my sister! **There were wordless shrieks of pleasure and then: **Edward, I know you're listening. You need to make up with Bella. She's my sister again and I will not have you messing it up. **_**Again!**_

I jerked a little from the conviction in her thoughts and watched as Mr Flag spoke about meiosis. It was torture. Not due to the boredom but the fact that a mere night ago I had Bella in my arms, confessing my love and today…she was conspicuously with _him_.

I hated him. Usually, my reasons were justified. Faces could speak a dozen lies but thoughts gave you away. I could separate the awful from the kind, the guilty from the innocent. But Bella, she had shown this morning, had her own gifts at play…

_**Bella looks like she's about to-**_

_Bella's partner, Chen, was walking off with a smirk on his face when his thoughts turned to static. I frowned, listening harder. Nothing erupted from him as his mind and its television static noise walked away. This wasn't the silence I was used to from Bella; this was like a mask, spreading over his thoughts and translating them into nonsensical static._

_I looked at Jasper and he was studying Bella from across the corridor. I knew that look. He gave it to people he deemed a threat. The pieces clicked and I turned to Bella, amazed. She was doing this. All of this. Alice pouted after a second. Her thoughts, at least, I could read._

_**She's blocking me.**__ Alice whined inside her head. I saw her try to press through the static. She got small, irrelevant glimpses of Bella and her coven…their decisions were masked in the block however and Alice growled._

_I listened to Jasper's thoughts and almost growled too. He couldn't think like that about my Bella. _

_Wait, no. Not my Bella. Never my Bella. Not anymore…_

Now, she was blocking me again, Chen and her remained safely blocked under the static. So my reasons for hating this despicable creature were probably not justified. I couldn't be sure. My reason was simple enough.

He was holding her hand under the table.

And it was driving me insane.

Bella wasn't looking at me although I begged her to. Internally of course. I couldn't -wouldn't- ruin her happiness, not again. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. From the side however, I could see her perfect profile; the long, dark lashes, straight nose, soft, unbelievably tempting lips…I noticed the tiny difference between them, something that had stuck with her since her humanity when I'd first seen and marvelled at it. The top one was slightly out of balance with the lower, slightly too full to match.

Did he notice?

She had a tiny freckle on the underside of her earlobe that hadn't faded completely.

Did he notice that either?

I scowled, unintentionally and I saw the two boys at the desk over cringe. I smoothed it out instantly. Mr Flag droned on as I continued to stare unabashed at Bella's face. She didn't look at me. Just straight forward. It hurt more than I was willing to admit because it wasn't even as if she were glaring at me…the indifference and the way she was studiously ignoring me was killing my already stone dead self.

"Mr Cullen, could you describe the difference between death and life?" Mr Flag suddenly asked. My attention was diverted momentarily as I processed the question in his head.

Death and Life…was there really such a difference? Death was merely another life was it not? A different life, perhaps, a life in which you did not breathe or speak. But how were we to know there was not more after death? I, of course would never know, but they would. These mortals would, one day, unless some were unlucky enough to cross our kind's paths again.

But as to the question, it was wrong to ask me the answer. Death did not have the same connotations to me as it did to him. Death was fearful, a swooping doom that would one day tear him from his family, friends, loved ones…to me, it was merely a choice. I could choose to live or die at whatever time I pleased. I felt my lips twitch at Abraham Christian Flag's question. Perhaps he could read minds. _How did you know to ask me? _I wanted to ask him but I didn't.

I knew he wanted to know it within a biological standard so I answered accordingly.

He nodded, satisfied and waddled away, scribbling notes on the whiteboard. I took a perfect copy almost instinctively. Then I stared at Bella more.

Within a few minutes of my staring, Bella's partner looked up at me. His face was perfect: although he had Asian heritage, his skin was perfect white and his eyes were topaz. Handsome, I suppose…the less gentlemanly part of me questioned what Bella saw in him.

Retreating to a shallow pool of vanity (probably collected during my stays inside Rosalie's head), I mulled it over. He hadn't seemed friendly or kind when I'd met him, his thoughts were vicious on the contrary. Protective in a way I hadn't studied at the time, a way that I wished I could investigate now.

But the static was still there. Bella was still shielding him. I wanted to see if he was as genuine as she obviously thought him. She deserved nothing less. Was he as selfless as her? I wondered. Was he as giving and good as her? I doubted it, no one would ever match Bella.

A very small part of me whimpered as I thought of the next suggestion: was he…_physically_ more attractive? As a vampire? I shook the thought away, annoyed. Bella was not that shallow. She wouldn't settle for anyone who wasn't as beautiful on the inside as they were externally. How dare I think low of her?

The partner, Chen, was still looking at me. He glanced once at the hand he held, then at its partner taking notes and finally mine, which was unknowingly itching toward Bella. Then he smirked.

I'd never had to swallow the urge to kill someone as much as I had to then.

Mind off topic Edward, off topic…**I can't sense her. Or him. It's not working. Bella's powers must be stronger than I'd originally planned. **Jasper's thoughts were from his Sport class, in the gymnasium. The male and female, Vee and Andrew, were joining himself, Alice and Rosalie in a game of basketball but he was distracted. His mind broke off into scenarios of fighting, the thoughts of an army soldier.

I growled, softly at one of them. I'd have to talk to him about that later.

"I want one person from each table to come up here, grab the equipment and then get on with experiment, no complaints or we'll go over it again!" Mr Flag called out and it gathered a few chuckles from the crowd. Chen stood immediately.

"I'll get it love, you stay here." he whispered, kissing the side of her head in a swift, quick movement before walking to the front of the class. Even through the static, I could still read Bella's wondrous eyes. For a split-second, there was shock, humour, and anger before it settled back into the unusually deep topaz.

I filed that way for further use as I moved my notes to the side of the bench. Should I speak? He was gone now. Nothing stopping me. Except Bella's wishes. Bella retrieved the safety mat and glasses from the bench's cupboards, distracting herself, I could tell. Did she want to speak to me? Our last conversation hadn't ended well or on particularly…friendly terms.

"Bella-" I began at the exact moment she started with "Edward-"

Our eyes locked, topaz to topaz and then avoided. I smiled, wryly. Like a dance, I supposed. And weren't we dancing? Forever dancing around the subject, as we had previously danced around her safety. In the end, the dance had ended with her transformation. How would this one end?

She was smiling too, barely. "Edward, I wanted to apologise for last night." She said, not looking at me. My eyes widened. What on god's green earth did she have to apologise for?

"For what?"

"For my behaviour. I- I didn't…mean to- to yell and…" she sighed, trailing off. She looked frustrated. I smiled, weakly.

"I know. I didn't meant to either. And I'm glad that you," I hid a wince. "moved on. It was what I had intended from the beginning. You deserve it." The words were only half true. The other half were bitterly dark with their lies. Bella looked down. _Don't do that, _I whispered in my mind. _Let me see your face, please, please…_

She looked up again and I rejoiced at being able to see her eyes again. They had always been the best indicators. My greatest allies as it were. Right now they were flickering, the way blades flicker in a sword battle. What did that mean precisely? "Thankyou then Edward." She whispered.

I swallowed down every disgusting sentiment of love and adoration and nodded at her. "And I you."

Chen arrived back, appearing as though it were scripted and the experiment was conducted with silent determination. What would happen now? I asked Bella. Are you going to leave with her? I asked Chen. So many questions and so little answers.

A reoccurring pattern.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

When class ended, I waited for Bella outside the room. School was over, our first proper day done. I wasn't sure what I was going to do. I wasn't sure if I would ever know what to do. The only thing I was certain of was that I would regret it if I did not speak to her now. Bella walked out of the room, her hand entwined with her partner's, I noticed, painfully.

"Bella, may I speak with you?" Best to start off polite…

**Edward, what are you doing…**Alice's thoughts were vague as she watched us. Now that my fate was involved with Bella's, the static mask she protected herself with was lifted slightly. Bella looked wary but nodded. Something about that made my throat burn. She was cautious of me, because of how I hurt her.

The partner, to my regret, did not leave. He merely stood there, looking smug. I raised an eyebrow. "Alone?"

She whispered something faintly in Chen's ear and he kissed her cheek before strutting off in the opposite direction, down the hall with the rest of the students. I narrowed my eyes when he turned back for a moment and smiled a big, conceited grin at me. Arrogant, cowardly-

"If you're done glaring at Chen…" Bella said a tiny hint of amusement in her lovely voice.

"I would be if he weren't so damn obnoxious…" I murmured, faintly. I forgot that her hearing was much better than when she was human and she glowered at me.

"Chen isn't obnoxious, he's a good person." She defended. Ah. Finally, a tiny insight into what Bella sees in him. _He's a good person. _

"Of course, forgive me." I apologised immediately before an odd sensation of nerves tingled up my spine. I hadn't felt it in a very long time but it was definitely human. I remembered feeling the day Bella had touched my hand and _not _cringed away in revulsion. "Bella, I wanted to speak to you about something."

"I gathered that." She said, amusedly. There was a hint of mirrored nerves beneath her sarcasm. I smiled, realising I was not the only one treading on eggshells and then frowned. She shouldn't have to tread on eggshells, I reminded myself. "What did you want?"

_You._

"I wanted to apologise for my family's actions before. I'm sure you heard of the meeting by now?" I asked, hesitantly.

She sighed, irritated. "If by meeting you mean the reluctant, secret, unorthodox, mutiny my family committed then yes, I have. I need to apologise too, Jenna and Max are very young, they still haven't mastered the complete art of…subtlety." Bella said, with a wry smile.

I grinned back. "Completely forgiven. Although something Jenna showed me in her mind disturbed me slightly." Slowly Edward, slow. The images I had from the young blonde's memory were more than disturbing. They were downright punishable. Bella looked away and I had a feeling she'd blush if she could.

"I am more than sorry about that." She whispered as we began moving out of the school. We moved just a few fractions slower than everyone else, almost unconsciously. Personally, I didn't want the time to end. "Jenna was angry-"

"Bella, please." I cut in. She shouldn't be apologising about _that. _Least of all _that. _"I simply wanted to tell you that-" the words stopped for a second. How to frame this most delicate of statements…I want you to be free but I wish you'd still love me. I want you to want other people but I'll always want you…

"What Edward?" she probed, watching me, studying me. She sighed, smiling slightly as though my silence pained her. "I thought we were past all the evasiveness." I smiled, wryly. Of course she would remember that.

"We are," I assured her. "We are but…I wanted to tell you that I want you to be happy." My words come from my era…a phrase coined by Carlisle when we had discussions about the rapid evolution of speech in these times. It applied to most vampires. Revolutionaries used phrases, used emotions and speeches that were much different from those of the 14th Century. The Volturi were still caught using Latin occasionally and we'd met a pair of vampires, not long ago, that still used phrases from the flower power era in the sixties.

My words had always come from my era. It was a flaw in my cover, Rosalie sometimes scorned. People were not used to seeing such a gentlemanly young man wandering around using such formal language as a casual tone. I had somewhat of a way with words. Perhaps my talent of the mind had something to do with it. Perhaps that was why, staring at the most beautiful, lovely, selfless creature I've ever known…my words failed me.

"Edward?" Bella asked, so faintly I barely heard her.

"I want you to be happy. And if you're happy with Chen then I will disappear forever. I promise." I said, sincerely. I would. There would be know moping this time however. There would be no pain. I'd probably go to the Volturi in the end. They would end my life quickly and I wouldn't have to suffer the pain of a Bella that wasn't mine any longer.

Bella swallowed and looked away for a few long moments. I waited, patiently as we walked to the front of the school. Let her go Edward, I chided myself. Experimentally, I took a small step away from Bella. It hurt as if my chest knew that if I took another step and another, eventually I would be very far away indeed.

"Bella! Come on, we need to go!" called a voice and I spotted the two other partners of Bella's coven by an expensive looking car. Vee and Andrew, I believe. She looked up and shuddered, as if collecting her thoughts.

"Of course. Yes, yes, of course." She muttered to herself. My heart, what was left of it sank. She took a step forward and my hand shot out before I could stop it. Impulsiveness had never been part of my character. Bella brought it out in me I guessed, wildly as I tried to gather _my _thoughts.

Bella didn't look happy. She looked almost…upset? If she was, what did that mean? Did I have a chance? Was that too much to hope for? What I wouldn't give to see her mind…"Are you happy?" I blurted out, questioningly. She blinked, startled and then frowned.

"I…I don't know Edward, everything's so confusing." She whispered, brokenly. "What do you want from me?"

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, immediately. Bella looked at me, this time with hope and sadness in her eyes.

"The same thing as you. I want you to be happy."

Ah, but there was the conundrum. For me to be happy, I had to have Bella in the equation. If Bella was in the equation, she would need Chen to keep her happy…which would make me, very, very unhappy. A paradox, I mused. An unsolvable question.

What happened next was insane. Impossibly, awfully insane. Alice had a vision, the scent of wild lilies filled the air, Rosalie's car appeared, tearing down the street. And every vampire on the premises, froze.

"No," Alice hissed.

Bella looked tense and worried.

Vee and Andrew simultaneously turned to Rose's car.

Chen appeared at Bella's side.

And I saw Alice's mind.

_The scene was the same. The decision had just been made. Only now. Rosalie appears, carrying two bags of shopping. But she's not alone. Out of her BMW comes three more shadowy figures. Also carrying bags, the smell of wild lilies becomes intoxicating. And familiar._

_Rosalie smiles, making three boys near her almost faint. "Look who dropped in early to say hello?" she says, cheerily._

_Out of the car steps-_

"Tanya! What a surprise!"

**Okay, now I bet you're wondering: HOW THE HELL DID ROSALIE PULL THAT ONE OFF??**

**Explanation: Tanya and her family were already coming to Forks, to say hello or whatever. Alice was busy watching for Bella and Edward and everyone else that she missed Rosalie when she called the Denali's to get them to speed up their visit. Make sense? If it doesn't, Review me and I'll try and answer any questions. Other than that…**

**SCHOOL IS OVER, LADIES AND GENTS!!! I am so insanely psyched for these holidays!!!!**

**R and R folks!**

**T de la B.**


	24. With A Heavy Heart

**PLEASE READ: **

**I'm sorry for making you guys think this was an update but I think I really need to let you know I haven't died or anything and I haven't (even worse) abandoned TLFS.**

**I feel like such a bad writer to you guys right now. I'm going through a little bit of a depression. Not your average writer's block, this little black cloud keeps popping over my head each time I try and get something down and it's driving me insane.**

**I don't know when this dip started but I do know that it's almost reducing me to tears when I reread stuff that I write now. It's too stiff, too depressing. I've been writing since forever and a little voice in my head keeps telling me that I've lost it, that maybe I never had it to begin with. I know I sound dramatic but I just need a little step back.**

**Right now, I'm hiding out in Mibba and fiction press and just tentatively trying to submerge myself into writing again. Sorry to all my loyal and wonderful reviewers and readers, I'm just on my knees, begging you to forgive me.**

**To those of you who give up on this story, I can understand that. I'm just asking you to understand that I haven't abandoned it and I hope you don't either.**

**I guess that's all guys. **

**Xoxo.**

**Tress De La Blues**


End file.
